If you are not familiar with arrays, check out our Getting Started article.

The preg_split function will split a string into an array. For example, let's say you have a variable that contains fruit.

$fruit="apple banana orange pear";

When you echo $fruit, the following will be displayed.

apple banana orange pear

$fruit can be split into an array. In this example, values are split where there is white space [\s]+. 

$array = preg_split('/[\s]+/', $fruit);

When you echo $array, just the word "Array" will be displayed. 

Array

This happens because each item in the array is now associated with a numeric identifier. In this example, the mapping between the items in the array is:

• $array[0] = apple
• $array[1] = banana
• $array[2] = orange
• $array[3] = pear

Echoing each item can be used to print each item in the array.

echo $array[0];
echo $array[1];
echo $array[2];
echo $array[3];
apple banana orange pear

Foreach loop

A foreach loop can be used to loop through the items in the array.

foreach ($array as $value) {
    echo $value;
}

The output of the foreach loop will be:

apple banana orange pear