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PHP Build a Simple PHP Application Integrating with PayPal Building the Shirt Details Page

Kelvin Zhao
Kelvin Zhao
10,418 Points
Posted by Kelvin Zhao
Kelvin Zhao
10,418 Points

Using =>

What exactly does => mean in the foreach loop?

Does

foreach(xxx as yyy => zzz)

and

foreach(xxx as zzz => yyy)

mean the same thing? If not, how do we determine the hierarchy and usage of => to get the right loop?

2 Answers

Stone Preston
Stone Preston
42,016 Points
Stone Preston
Stone Preston
42,016 Points

that syntax is for accessing the keys in addition to the values of an associative array. 

foreach ($array as $key => $value)

that will allow you to access both the value and the key of the array within the loop body

for example if I had an associative array called people with id numbers as the keys and names as the values and I wanted to loop through that array I would use:

foreach ($people as $id => $name) {

    echo $id . " is the key";
    echo $name . " is the value";

}
mikes02
PLUS
mikes02
Courses Plus Student 16,968 Points
mikes02
mikes02
Courses Plus Student 16,968 Points

the $key => $value in the foreach loop refers to the key-value pairs in associative arrays, where the key serves as the index to determine the value instead of a number like 0,1,2. For example, you could do an associative array like:

$car = array('brand' => 'toyota', 'model' => 'camry', 'color' => 'blue', 'year' => '2014');

Where you establish key => value pairs. So in your loop you could do:

foreach($car as $key => $value)
{
echo '<p>'.$key.' - '.$value.'</p>';
}
Konrad Pilch
Konrad Pilch
2,435 Points
Konrad Pilch
Konrad Pilch
2,435 Points

Its the same as this rigth?

$products = array();
$products[101] = array(
    "name" => "Logo Shirt, Red",
    "img" => "img/shirts/shirt-101.jpg",
    "price" => 18,
    "paypal" => "9P7DLECFD4LKE"
);
$products[102] = array(
    "name" => "Mike the Frog Shirt, Black",
    "img" => "img/shirts/shirt-102.jpg",
    "price" => 20
);