Example
The
foreachstatement is used to loop through arrays.
For each iteration the value of the current array element is assigned to $value variable and the array pointer is moved by one and in the next iteration next element will be processed.
The following example displays the items in the array assigned.
$list = ['apple', 'banana', 'cherry'];
foreach ($list as $value) {
echo "I love to eat {$value}. ";
}
The expected output is:
I love to eat apple. I love to eat banana. I love to eat cherry.
You can also access the key / index of a value using foreach:
foreach ($list as $key => $value) {
echo $key . ":" . $value . " ";
}
//Outputs - 0:apple 1:banana 2:cherry
By default $value is a copy of the value in $list, so changes made inside the loop will not be reflected in $list afterwards.
foreach ($list as $value) {
$value = $value . " pie";
}
echo $list[0]; // Outputs "apple"
To modify the array within the foreach loop, use the & operator to assign $value by reference. It's important to unset the variable afterwards so that reusing $value elsewhere doesn't overwrite the array.
foreach ($list as &$value) { // Or foreach ($list as $key => &$value) {
$value = $value . " pie";
}
unset($value);
echo $list[0]; // Outputs "apple pie"
You can also modify the array items within the foreach loop by referencing the array key of the current item.
foreach ($list as $key => $value) {
$list[$key] = $value . " pie";
}
echo $list[0]; // Outputs "apple pie"
