PHP array_fill_keys() function (with example)

Hey,
I totally get what you mean! array_fill_keys() can be a bit confusing at first, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes quite useful.

I remember when I first started using PHP, I had a project where I needed to create an array of days of the week as keys, and assign a default value of 'busy' to each day. Initially, I was manually creating each key-value pair, which was time-consuming and not efficient at all.

However, I stumbled upon array_fill_keys() and it turned out to be a lifesaver. It allowed me to easily generate the array I needed with just a single line of code.

Here's an example snippet that showcases how you can use array_fill_keys() to dynamically create an array:

php
// Desired keys

$daysOfWeek = ['Monday', 'Tuesday', 'Wednesday', 'Thursday', 'Friday'];



// Default value

$defaultValue = 'busy';



// Generate the array using array_fill_keys()

$busyDays = array_fill_keys($daysOfWeek, $defaultValue);



// Let's see the result

var_dump($busyDays);

php
array(5) {

  ["Monday"]=>

  string(4) "busy"

  ["Tuesday"]=>

  string(4) "busy"

  ["Wednesday"]=>

  string(4) "busy"

  ["Thursday"]=>

  string(4) "busy"

  ["Friday"]=>

  string(4) "busy"

}

Hey there,
I totally understand where you're coming from! When I first encountered the array_fill_keys() function in PHP, I was a bit puzzled as well. But let me share my personal experience and how I ended up using it in a project.

So, I was working on a task management system where I needed to generate an array of task IDs for a specific project. Each task ID had a prefix related to the project, followed by a unique numerical value. Initially, I was manually creating each array element, but it became quite tedious and error-prone.

Thankfully, I stumbled upon the array_fill_keys() function, which turned out to be the perfect solution for my situation. It allowed me to dynamically create an array with the desired keys and assign a value to each key simultaneously.

Here's a brief code snippet to demonstrate how I used array_fill_keys() in my project:

php
// Project prefix

$projectPrefix = 'TASK';



// Total number of tasks

$totalTasks = 5;



// Generate task IDs using array_fill_keys()

$taskIDs = array_fill_keys(range(1, $totalTasks), $projectPrefix);



// Output the array

print_r($taskIDs);

Array

(

    [1] => TASK

    [2] => TASK

    [3] => TASK

    [4] => TASK

    [5] => TASK

)

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Hey there!

I recently had a similar confusion with the array_fill_keys() function, so I can definitely help you out here.

Basically, array_fill_keys() allows you to create a new array by specifying the keys you want and the value you want for each key. It's quite handy when you need to initialize an array with a certain set of keys and values.

To give you a practical example, let's say you want to create an array called $fruits with three keys: 'apple', 'banana', and 'orange'. And you want each of these keys to have the value 'fruit'. Here's how to achieve that using array_fill_keys():

php
$keys = ['apple', 'banana', 'orange'];

$values = 'fruit';



$fruits = array_fill_keys($keys, $values);

print_r($fruits);

Array

(

    [apple] => fruit

    [banana] => fruit

    [orange] => fruit

)

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