What is the array_unshift method in PHP?

The array_unshift method can be used to add one or more elements to the beginning of an array.

Syntax

array_unshift(array, value, ...)

Parameters

  • array: the array to add values to.
  • value: the value to be added.

Points to note

  • This method appends the elements in the order in which it is passed as an argument.

  • The numeric index of the elements is reassigned, starting from zero.

  • Non-numeric keys remain unchanged.

  • This method returns the new length of the array after it appends the passed elements.

Example

<?php 
  $numbers = [
    1,
    2, 
    'three' => 3,
    4
  ];
  printArray($numbers);
  
  array_unshift($numbers, 0);
  printArray($numbers);
  array_unshift($numbers, -2, -1);
  printArray($numbers);
  // function to print the array 
  function printArray($array){
    echo "The array is ";
    print_r($array);
    echo "\n";
  }
?>

In the code above:

  • We created an array called numbers.

  • We created a printArray function to print the array.

  • We called the array_unshift method with single and multiple arguments to append elements to the beginning of the array.

Free Resources

License: Creative Commons-Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC-BY-SA 4.0)