php: pushing to an array that may or may not exist

Question

I want to create an array with a message.

$myArray = array('my message');

But using this code, myArray will get overwritten if it already existed.

If I use array_push, it has to already exist.

$myArray = array(); // <-- has to be declared first.
array_push($myArray, 'my message');

Otherwise, it will bink.

Is there a way to make the second example above work, without first clearing $myArray = array();?

Answer 1

Here:

$myArray[] = 'my message';

$myArray have to be an array or not set. If it holds a value which is a string, integer or object that doesn't implement arrayaccess, it will fail.