Ron's Guide

Using loops in conjunction with arrays is an excellent way to improve your PHP scripts. This tutorial will get your started with the basics of loops in PHP.

---

foreach loops

Foreach loops were introduced in PHP 4. The foreach loop can only be used with arrays, they simply make it easier to iterate over elements in an array. There are two different ways to use the foreach loop, the second is just a useful addition to the first. Here's what a foreach loop looks like:

	<?php // first method foreach($array as $value) {     // tasks to perform } // second method foreach($array as $key => $value) {     // tasks to perform } ?>

Using the first method, we can use the $value variable each time though the loop. This variable will contain the value of each array item. Using the second method, we can still use the $value variable, but now we can use the $key variable as well. The $key variable will contain the key of each array item.

Here is an example of how we can use each of these methods:

<?php // First we need an array to loop over $veggies = array(     'green' => 'luttuce',     'red' => 'tomato',     'purple' => 'eggplant',     'orange' => 'carrot' ); echo "<p>Here is a list of vegtables:</p>"; echo "<ul>"; // Here's the first method foreach($veggies as $value) {     echo "<li>$value</li>"; } echo "</ul>"; echo "<p>Would you like to know their colors?</p>"; // Here's the second method foreach($veggies as $key => $value) {     echo "$value is $key.<br />"; } ?>

Give the example code above a try to see what happens, then go on to the next page to read about for loops.

• Discuss this tutorial
• Rate this tutorial
• Tell a friend