How to do String to Array conversion in PHP
Given a scenario where you have a string of text, and the task of converting it into an array in PHP, this article explains the different ways of doing it with the help of multiple examples.
In this article, we will cover 2 different methods of doing it:
- Using the explode() function
- Using the str_split() function
1. Using the explode() function
The explode() function is a built-in function in PHP used to break a string into an array.
It splits a string into array elements based on the specified delimiter.
Syntax
explode(separator,string,limit)
Parameters
| Parameter | Requirement | Description |
|---|---|---|
| separator | Required | This is a delimiter that specifies where to break the string. This can be anything such as a space (" "), comma(,), full stop(.), etc. The function splits the string where the delimiter (separator) exists. This parameter cannot be an empty string. |
| string | Required | Specifies the string in which we want to convert into an array. |
| limit | Optional | Specifies the number of array elements to return. If it is set to 0, the function returns an array with only one element. If it is set to greater than 0, the function returns an array with the maximum of the specified limit element(s). If it is less than 0, the function returns an array except for the last -limit elements(). |
Example
<?php
$str = "Do you really enjoy programming in PHP";
$array = explode(" ", $str);
var_dump($array);
Output
array(7) { [0]=> string(2) "Do" [1]=> string(3) "you" [2]=> string(6) "really" [3]=> string(5) "enjoy" [4]=> string(11) "programming" [5]=> string(2) "in" [6]=> string(3) "PHP" }
In the example above, we have converted the string "Do you really enjoy programming in PHP" into an indexed array with seven elements.
We have used space " " as the separator in the explode() function making the string to be broken at every instance with a space.
To check the size of the array, we use the count() or sizeof() functions.
Example
<?php
$str = "Do you really enjoy programming in PHP";
$array = explode(" ", $str);
echo "The size of the array is ".count($array);
echo "<br>";
echo "The size of the array is ".sizeof($array);
Output
The size of the array is 7
The size of the array is 7
We can access the elements of the resulting array using their respective array indices. The array indices start from zero. So to access the first element of the array, we will use index 0, to access the second, we use index 1, and so on.
Example
<?php
$str = "Do you really enjoy programming in PHP";
$array = explode(" ", $str);
echo "The value of index 4 is ".$array[4];
echo "<br>";
echo "The value of index 6 is ".$array[6];
Output
The value of index 4 is programming
The value of index 6 is PHP
In a similar way to the space above, we can use anything else as the separator.
Example
<?php
$cars = "BMW, Toyota, Volvo, Tesla, Nisan, Audi, Mazda";
$array = explode(",", $cars);
var_dump($array);
Output
array(7) { [0]=> string(3) "BMW" [1]=> string(7) " Toyota" [2]=> string(6) " Volvo" [3]=> string(6) " Tesla" [4]=> string(6) " Nisan" [5]=> string(5) " Audi" [6]=> string(6) " Mazda" }
In the above example, we have used comma (,) as the separator.
We can as well use the third (limit) parameter in the explode() function to limit the number of array elements we want to be returned.
Example
<?php
$dev = "All PHP developers are awesome!";
$array = explode(" ", $dev, 3);
$array = explode(" ", $dev, 3);
Output
Array ( [0] => All [1] => PHP [2] => developers are awesome! )
2. Using the str_split() function
The str_split() is another built-in function in PHP that splits a string into an array.
Unlike the explode() function that splits the string based on the specified separator, the str_split() function splits the string into equal parts of the provided length.
Syntax
str_split(string,length)
Parameters
| Parameter | Requirement | Description |
|---|---|---|
| string | Required | Specifies the string in which we want to split into an array. |
| length | Optional | Specifies the length of each array element. Its default is 1. |
The str_split() function returns FALSE if the specified length is less than 1. If the length is larger than the length of the string, the entire string will be returned as the only element of the array.
Example 1
<?php
$str = "Hi there! I love PHP";
$array = str_split($str, 3);
var_dump($array);
Output
array(7) { [0]=> string(3) "Hi " [1]=> string(3) "the" [2]=> string(3) "re!" [3]=> string(3) " I " [4]=> string(3) "lov" [5]=> string(3) "e P" [6]=> string(2) "HP" }
Example 2
<?php
$str = "Hello World!";
$array = str_split($str);
print_r($array);
Output
Array ( [0] => H [1] => e [2] => l [3] => l [4] => o [5] => [6] => W [7] => o [8] => r [9] => l [10] => d [11] => ! )
That's all.
That's how you convert a string into an array in PHP.
