array wrapped in parentheses in PHP (array)

Question

This is quite a simple question, but I am finding it hard to find an answer.

I have a script that has the following:

(array) $item->classes

I have seen array() but never (array). What does it do?

Answer 1

This is called typecasting. You can read more about on the PHP documentation. (array) is used to convert scalar or object to array see Converting to array

Answer 2

(array) will cast an object as an array

Assuming $item->classes->attribute_a = 1 and $item->classes->attribute_b = 2,

$object_to_array = (array)$item->classes; 

creates an associated array equivalent to array('attribute_a' => 1, 'attribute_b' => 2).

Typecasting is not just for arrays, it works between many different types. For example an integer could be cast as a string;

$i = 123;
$string_i = (string)$i;

Much more on typecasting here