How can I get the current array index in a foreach loop?

Question

How do I get the current index in a foreach loop?

foreach ($arr as $key => $val) {     // How do I get the index?     // How do I get the first element in an associative array? } 

Answer 1

In your sample code, it would just be $key.

If you want to know, for example, if this is the first, second, or i^th iteration of the loop, this is your only option:

$i = -1; foreach($arr as $val) {   $i++;   //$i is now the index.  if $i == 0, then this is the first element.   ... } 

Of course, this doesn't mean that $val == $arr[$i] because the array could be an associative array.

Answer 2

This is the most exhaustive answer so far and gets rid of the need for a $i variable floating around. It is a combo of Kip and Gnarf's answers.

$array = array( 'cat' => 'meow', 'dog' => 'woof', 'cow' => 'moo', 'computer' => 'beep' ); foreach( array_keys( $array ) as $index=>$key ) {      // display the current index + key + value     echo $index . ':' . $key . $array[$key];      // first index     if ( $index == 0 ) {         echo ' -- This is the first element in the associative array';     }      // last index     if ( $index == count( $array ) - 1 ) {         echo ' -- This is the last element in the associative array';     }     echo '<br>'; } 

Hope it helps someone.