Using PHP's array_values() Function to Reindex Arrays

In PHP development, arrays are a fundamental data structure, and PHP provides many built‑in functions to manipulate them; this article focuses on 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 so that the keys start from 0 and increase consecutively; it requires only the original array as its argument.

<code>&lt;?php
$array = array("apple", "banana", "cherry");
$newArray = array_values($array);
print_r($newArray);
?&gt;</code>

Running the code above outputs:

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

The function also works with associative arrays, converting them to indexed arrays while preserving the original values:

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

The result is:

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

It is important to note that array_values() returns a new array rather than a reference; modifying the new array does not affect the original one:

<code>&lt;?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 )
?&gt;</code>

Thus, array_values() is a practical function for reindexing arrays, converting associative arrays to indexed ones, and ensuring that the original data remains unchanged, which can improve code readability and maintainability in PHP projects.