Using array_pad() to Pad an Array to a Specified Length in PHP

The array_pad() function in PHP returns a copy of the input array padded to a length defined by $pad_size using the value $pad_value. If $pad_size is positive, padding is added to the right; if negative, padding is added to the left. No padding occurs when the absolute value of $pad_size is less than or equal to the original array length, and up to 1,048,576 elements can be added in a single call.

Syntax array_pad(array $input, int $pad_size, mixed $pad_value) Parameters

input : The original array to be padded.

pad_size : The desired length of the new array.

pad_value : The value used for padding; applied only when the original array is shorter than $pad_size.

Return value

Returns a new array containing the original elements plus any added padding according to the rules above.

Examples

```php php $input = array(12, 10, 9); // Pad to length 5 on the right with zeros $result = array_pad($input, 5, 0); // $result is array(12, 10, 9, 0, 0) // Pad to length 7 on the left with -1 $result = array_pad($input, -7, -1); // $result is array(-1, -1, -1, -1, 12, 10, 9) // Attempt to pad to length 2 (no padding needed) $result = array_pad($input, 2, "noop"); // $result is array(12, 10, 9) – unchanged ? ```