Master PHP’s array_values(): Reindex Arrays Easily

In PHP development, arrays are a common data structure, and PHP provides many functions to manipulate them. This article introduces the useful array_values() function, which returns a new array containing all the values of the original array.

The array_values() function reindexes the array keys starting from 0. It is used by passing an array as the argument. Below is a basic example with an indexed array:

<?php
$array = array("apple", "banana", "cherry");
$newArray = array_values($array);
print_r($newArray);
?>

Running this code outputs:

Array
(
    [0] => apple
    [1] => banana
    [2] => cherry
)

The new array’s keys start from 0 while the values remain the same, which is useful for reindexing or converting associative arrays to indexed arrays. array_values() also works with associative arrays. It discards the original keys and returns a numerically indexed array of the values. Example:

<?php
$student = array(
    "name" => "张三",
    "age"  => 18,
    "score"=> 95
);
$newArray = array_values($student);
print_r($newArray);
?>

The output is:

Array
(
    [0] => 张三
    [1] => 18
    [2] => 95
)

This conversion is handy when you need to iterate over values without caring about original keys.

Note that the array returned by array_values() is a copy, not a reference to the original array. Modifying the new array does not affect the original, as shown below:

<?php
$array = array("apple", "banana", "cherry");
$newArray = array_values($array);
$newArray[0] = "orange";
print_r($newArray); // Array ( [0] => orange [1] => banana [2] => cherry )
print_r($array);    // Array ( [0] => apple [1] => banana [2] => cherry )
?>

Thus, array_values() is a practical function for handling both indexed and associative arrays, improving code readability and maintainability in PHP projects.