PHP Arrays

PHP July 19, 2007

PHP hashmap-style arrays make a great solution to wanting to pass multiple variables but not wanting to specify them all in the arguments to a function.

As far as object-oriented stuff goes, you can specify an array of properties (pun intended?) and pass them all via one variable.

The nice thing is, if your function or object is expecting certain properties and you format your array properly, you can get a lot out of your array.

For example, making an object entirely based on an array you pass it can be wonderful when you write your object once (and yeah it will be complicated) but whenever you want to create new instances of it, with all the same functionality and display style, you probably only need to write a few more lines of code.

$fields = array (

  "table_name" => "users",

  "table_order" => "userID",

  "dependence" => array (

                 "table_name" => "posts",

                 "table_order" => "postID"

  )

)



$editable = array (

   "Name" => array (

           "type" => "text",

           "required" => true

           "db_field" => "username"

    )

)

Something like the above code could generate a very complicated webpage, if you code it properly ;^)

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