Get array key of single array

Question

I have the following array:

$array = ('foo' => 'bar');

How do I echo 'foo' without using foreach or arraykeys?

`echo reset(array_keys($array));` <- will output the FIRST key of ANY associative array. But, uses `array_keys` - why don't you want to use that? — random_user_name, Jan 20 '17 at 16:21
@cale_b the question states: "*without using foreach or arraykeys*" — Xorifelse, Jan 20 '17 at 16:23
@TSR - Why do you want to avoid `array_keys`? Is this some sort of school homework or something? — random_user_name, Jan 20 '17 at 16:23
`print implode('',$array);` `echo $array['foo'];` `print array_shift($array);` — JustOnUnderMillions, Jan 20 '17 at 16:25
@Xorifelse `arraykeys` != `array_keys`, thing he means without the use of an key ;) — JustOnUnderMillions, Jan 20 '17 at 16:25
@JustOnUnderMillions I think that is still open to debate, it could be a typo as well. — Xorifelse, Jan 20 '17 at 16:27
@Xorifelse What sence makes `array_keys` here without `reset`? Debate closed ;) — JustOnUnderMillions, Jan 20 '17 at 16:28
Ignore my first comment here, i was on the wrong lane. @Xorifelse seems that i did not get it right :) — JustOnUnderMillions, Jan 20 '17 at 16:31
@JustOnUnderMillions Thanks for the clarity because for a moment there I was confused as `echo str_repeat('*', 4);` — Xorifelse, Jan 20 '17 at 17:11

score 1 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:45

This is a duplicate question, but you've created the "artificial" construct of not being able to use array_keys for some reason, so I want to hilight the options without array_keys:

Note that many of the comments have you look for it by the value of foo, but I'm assuming you don't / cannot know the values of the array, so these methods do not rely on knowing anything about the array:

There's a few ways without array_keys. Here's just two:

Using reset and key:

reset( $array );
echo key( $array );

Or using array_flip:

$array = array_flip( $array );
echo reset( $array );

And, there's at least one way using array_keys:

$keys = array_keys( $array );
echo reset( $keys );

There are likely many other approaches.

Get array key of single array

1 Answers1