weird array syntax

Question

I'm trying to figure how a function I've been given works -- or rather doesn't work. The problematic areas include array notation like this:

$small[$end[$i]{0}]

I think the idea is to append "0" to the value of $end[$i] and use that for the index of $small. But it doesn't work in PHP5.3. Is this a deprecated syntax and is it trying to do what I think it is?

doesn't work as in "php breaks with a syntax error" or doesn't work as in "what should happen isn't happening"? — o0'.
– o0'., Commented Apr 23, 2010 at 14:00
"Note: String s may also be accessed using braces, as in $str{42}, for the same purpose. However, this syntax is deprecated as of PHP 5.3.0. Use square brackets instead, such as $str[42]." php.net/manual/en/language.types.string.php — Tom Haigh
– Tom Haigh, Commented Apr 23, 2010 at 14:06
@Lo'oris: $end[$i]{0} seems to be evaluating to null or ''. — dnagirl
– dnagirl, Commented Apr 23, 2010 at 14:20
@Tom Haigh: now that you've pointed it out, I do remember strings being accessible this way. Turns out though, that if the string is a number, it doesn't work. e.g. $foo=200; $foo[0]!=2; I think the solution is to replace the syntax with substr($foo,1); — dnagirl
– dnagirl, Commented Apr 23, 2010 at 14:32
@dnagirl: "$foo=200;" that isn't a string. using substr() is maybe slower and only works because the int is implicitly converted to a string. — Tom Haigh
– Tom Haigh, Commented Apr 23, 2010 at 14:46

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 12:13:24Z

9

It's getting the first character from the $end[$i] string and then accessing the $small array using that character as the array key.

Edit:

Since $foo=200; $foo[0] != 2;//=='', what do you recommend for getting the leftmost digit when the magnitude of the number is unknown?

The easiest way is substr($foo, 0, 1) in PHP.

If you're using a strongly typed language, I have some metrics you may be interested in reading from another answer of mine: How can you get the first digit in an int (C#)?

edited May 23, 2017 at 12:13

CommunityBot

11 silver badge

answered Apr 23, 2010 at 14:00

John Rasch

63.6k19 gold badges110 silver badges141 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

dnagirl Over a year ago

thanks for correcting my understanding of what it's trying to do. B

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

weird array syntax

1 Answer 1

Edit:

1 Comment

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

Edit:

1 Comment

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related