How to get the first and last element of an array in PHP

In this tutorial, we are going to learn about how to get the first and last element of an array in PHP with the help of examples.

Consider, we have the following array.

$arr = array("lion", "tiger", "cat");

Now, we want to get the first element "lion" and last element "cat" from the above array.

Getting the first element

To access the first element of an array, we can use the square brackets syntax [] by passing the index 0 which is the index of an first element.

Note: In PHP arrays are collection of items, where we can access it using the element index. where the first element index is 0, the second element index is 1, etc.

Here is an example :

$arr = array("lion", "tiger", "cat");
$firstElement = $arr[0];// Getting first element

echo $firstElement;

Output:

lion

Using reset() function

Alternatively, we can also use the built-in reset() function in PHP to get the first element of an array,.

The reset() function changes the internal pointer of an array to the first element and returns the value of it.

Here is an example:

$arr = array("lion", "tiger", "cat");
$firstElement = reset($arr);

echo $firstElement;

Output:

"lion"

Getting the last element

To access the last element of an array, we can use the square brackets syntax [] by passing the last element index.

We can use the count($arr)-1 to get the last element index.

Here is an example :

$arr = array("lion", "tiger", "cat");
$lastElement = $arr[count($arr)-1];// Getting last element

echo $lastElement;

Output:

cat

Alternatively, we can also use the built-in end() function in PHP to get the last element of an array,.

The end() function changes the internal pointer of an array to the last element and returns the value of it.

Here is an example:

$arr = array("lion", "tiger", "cat");
$lastElement = end($arr);

echo $lastElement;

Output:

"cat"