| Re: Using count() as an array index [message #178436 is a reply to message #178434] |
Mon, 18 June 2012 10:32   |
Norman Peelman
Messages: 126
Registered: September 2010
Karma:
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Senior Member |
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On 06/18/2012 03:46 AM, Arno Welzel wrote:
> Jerry Stuckle, 16.06.2012 20:44:
>
>> On 6/16/2012 1:56 PM, Martin Leese wrote:
>>> Chuck Anderson wrote:
>>>
>>>> You can not use a function call within a quoted string.
>>>>
>>>> You should use:
>>>>
>>>> echo $anArray[count($array)] . "\n";
>>>
>>> Thank you. I actually understood this
>>> explanation.
>>>
>>
>> Actually, you can easily use a function call within a quoted string, but
>> since it is not a simple variable, you need to use curly braces, i.e.
>>
>> <?php
>> $anArray[1] = "This is element one";
>> $anArray[2] = "This is element two";
>> $anArray[3] = "This is the last element";
>> echo "{$anArray[count($anArray)]}\n";
>> ?>
>>
>> prints "This is the last element" (without the quotes, of course).
>
> Please compare:
>
> $anArray[count($array)] . "\n";
>
> "{$anArray[count($anArray)]}\n";
>
> You see the difference? Your suggestion is longer (even whitespaces
> which can me omitted) and totally unreadable for people you are not
> familiar with this.
>
People that aren't familiar with this are mostly people that simply
jump in to PHP without reading much documentation. Which is possible but
people should end up reading at one of the PHP mirrors at some point. In
this case:
http://us.php.net/manual/en/language.types.string.php
....which explains all the different ways and reasons why.
>> Be aware, though - the typical array in PHP starts counting at 0, not 1.
>> So an array of 3 elements would be numbered 0, 1 and 2. In this case,
>> an element with an index of 3 (count($anArray)) is not set (and will
>> give a warning if you try to use it).
>
> ACK.
>
>> You need to get used to this idea; it's used throughout PHP.
>
> Just because something is possible does not mean you have to use it ;-)
> Curly braces should only be used for code blocks and not to replace
> string concatenation.
>
It's a little more than possible... it was designed this way. It's
not a replacement for string concatenation, it is used (in this context)
for variable expansion within strings. If you don't want to use curly
brace syntax, then do it the long way, it's your choice. Me personally,
I find curly brace syntax much more readable than alot of '.'s and '/'
escapes like alot of people use.
--
Norman
Registered Linux user #461062
-Have you been to www.php.net yet?-
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