Understanding PHP's array_values() Function: Syntax, Usage, and Examples

PHP's array_values() function returns a new array containing all the values from the input array, reindexing them numerically.

The basic syntax is array_values(array), where array is the source array.

Basic usage with an associative array:

<?php
$students = array(
    "John" => 20,
    "Jane" => 21,
    "Tom" => 19,
    "Sarah" => 18
);
$ages = array_values($students);
print_r($ages);
?>

The output is:

Array
(
    [0] => 20
    [1] => 21
    [2] => 19
    [3] => 18
)

When applied to an indexed array, the function returns a copy with the same order:

<?php
$fruits = array("Apple", "Banana", "Orange", "Grapes");
$newArray = array_values($fruits);
print_r($newArray);
?>

Output:

Array
(
    [0] => Apple
    [1] => Banana
    [2] => Orange
    [3] => Grapes
)

For multidimensional arrays, array_values() extracts the first level values, producing a one‑dimensional array of sub‑arrays:

<?php
$students = array(
    array("John", 20),
    array("Jane", 21),
    array("Tom", 19),
    array("Sarah", 18)
);
$values = array_values($students);
print_r($values);
?>

Result:

Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [0] => John
            [1] => 20
        )
    [1] => Array
        (
            [0] => Jane
            [1] => 21
        )
    [2] => Array
        (
            [0] => Tom
            [1] => 19
        )
    [3] => Array
        (
            [0] => Sarah
            [1] => 18
        )
)

In summary, array_values() is a useful PHP utility for extracting values from associative, indexed, or multidimensional arrays and obtaining a reindexed array for further processing.