Arrays are fundamental data structures in PHP that allow you to store and manipulate collections of values. One of the commonly used array functions is array_push(), which allows you to add one or more elements to the end of an array in PHP. The PHP array_push function adds elements to the end of an array. This function based on its name pushes elements to the end of an array in PHP (PHP array push).
You could insert one or more values to the array by the array_push function.
It is categorized under the PHP array functions. Read more about PHP Array in our tutorial.
In this article, we’ll delve into the PHP array_push() function and provide code examples to help you understand the push to an array usage.
PHP array_push function syntax
The array_push() function in PHP appends one or more elements to the end of an array. It modifies the original array and returns the new number of elements in the updated array.
array_push(array, value1, value2, ...);With this function, you can add one value or more values to a given array’s end.
| array | Required | It is an array that you want to add elements to it. |
| value1 | Required | It is the value that you want to add. This value can be any data. |
| value2 | Optional | It is the value that you want to add. This value can be any data. |
| Returned value | Returns the new number of elements in the array |
PHP array_push() function must have at least two arguments one is the array and the other is a value. But in PHP version 7.3.0 this function can be called with only one parameter.
PHP array push function has been available in PHP since version 4.
The length of the array increases by the number of variables you push.
Push elements to an array in PHP with array_push
As we discussed earlier, we can push one or more elements into an array with this PHP function.
$cars = array('Ferrari', 'Benz', 'BMW');
array_push($cars, 'Volvo', 'Toyota');
var_dump($cars);Output:
array (size=5)
0 => string 'Ferrari' (length=7)
1 => string 'Benz' (length=4)
2 => string 'BMW' (length=3)
3 => string 'Volvo' (length=5)
4 => string 'Toyota' (length=6)This function appends string values with indexed keys (numeric keys) even if your array is an associative array. Also, you can add any PHP data type like date, etc.
$cars = array('fer' => 'Ferrari', 'ben' => 'Benz', 'bmw' => 'BMW');
array_push($cars, 'Volvo', 'Toyota');
var_dump($cars);Output:
array (size=5)
'fer' => string 'Ferrari' (length=7)
'ben' => string 'Benz' (length=4)
'bmw' => string 'BMW' (length=3)
0 => string 'Volvo' (length=5)
1 => string 'Toyota' (length=6)If you want to add only one value to the array it is better to add that with [ ] and don’t use the array_push function.
$cars = array('fer' => 'Ferrari', 'ben' => 'Benz', 'bmw' => 'BMW');
$cars['vol'] = 'Volvo';
var_dump($cars);Output:
array (size=4)
'fer' => string 'Ferrari' (length=7)
'ben' => string 'Benz' (length=4)
'bmw' => string 'BMW' (length=3)
'vol' => string 'Volvo' (length=5)With this method, you can add only one element to the array. To understand of the add an element to an array, we recommend reading our tutorial about it.
How to push value and key into PHP array
There is no way you could add an associative array to another with the array_push function. It is better to use [] to add elements as we mentioned in this tutorial or use other methods like array_push and loops or even merge.
