PHP array length

In this post, you will learn how to calculate the PHP array length. In the development process, we may come to the situation where we need to count the total number of elements or values in an array. We can easily get this by using PHP predefined functions count() and sizeof(). These functions are used to get the number of elements or values in an array. Here, we explain how to use these functions.

count() function

The count() function returns the number of elements in an array.

count(array, mode)

Here, array specifies the array variable which is required to calculate the PHP array length and the second argument is optional which specifies the mode, possible value is either 0 or 1. The 0 and 1 represents COUNT_NORMAL and COUNT_RECURSIVE. If no value passed as the second argument, then the default value is COUNT_NORMAL. The COUNT_NORMAL mode does not count all elements of multidimensional arrays and COUNT_RECURSIVE counts the array recursively.

<?php
    $arr = array('k1'=>array('Book', 'Pen', 'Copy'), 
				'k2'=> array('Table', 'Chair'));
				
    echo "Array count: ". count($arr);
    echo "<br/>";
    echo "Array count recursive: ". count($arr, 1);
?>

Array count: 2
Array count recursive: 7

sizeof() function

The sizeof() function returns the number of elements in an array. It is same as the count() function and accepts the same arguments as count().

sizeof(array, mode);

<?php
    $arr = array('k1'=>array('Book', 'Pen', 'Copy'), 
				'k2'=> array('Table', 'Chair'));
    echo "Array count: ". sizeof($arr);
?>

Array count: 2

It is always recommended to use the count() method rather than sizeof(). As, there is no assurance for the alias name that they will exist or not in the future upgrade.

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