Array search functions in PHP - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Array search functions

📖 Scenario: You are working on a small PHP program to find specific values inside an array of fruits. This is like looking for your favorite fruit in a fruit basket.

🎯 Goal: You will create an array of fruits, set a fruit to search for, use PHP array search functions to find if the fruit is in the basket, and then print the result.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create an array called $fruits with the exact values: 'apple', 'banana', 'cherry', 'date', 'elderberry'

Create a variable called $searchFruit and set it to 'cherry'

Use the PHP function in_array() with $searchFruit and $fruits to check if the fruit is in the array

Print "Found cherry in the basket!" if the fruit is found, otherwise print "cherry is not in the basket."

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Searching arrays is common when you want to check if an item exists in a list, like checking if a username is taken or if a product is in stock.

💼 Career

Knowing how to search arrays is a basic skill for PHP developers working on websites, data processing, or any application that handles lists of data.

1

Create the fruits array

Create an array called $fruits with these exact values: 'apple', 'banana', 'cherry', 'date', 'elderberry'.

PHP

<?php

// Create the array $fruits with the given fruits

Need a hint?

Use square brackets [] to create the array and separate values with commas.

2

Set the fruit to search

Create a variable called $searchFruit and set it to the string 'cherry'.

PHP

<?php
$fruits = ['apple', 'banana', 'cherry', 'date', 'elderberry'];

// Set $searchFruit to 'cherry'

Need a hint?

Use the assignment operator = to set the variable.

3

Check if the fruit is in the array

Use the PHP function in_array() with $searchFruit and $fruits to check if the fruit is in the array. Store the result in a variable called $found.

PHP

<?php
$fruits = ['apple', 'banana', 'cherry', 'date', 'elderberry'];
$searchFruit = 'cherry';

// Use in_array() to check if $searchFruit is in $fruits and store in $found

Need a hint?

The function in_array() returns true if the value is found, otherwise false.

4

Print the search result

Write an if statement to print "Found cherry in the basket!" if $found is true, otherwise print "cherry is not in the basket.".

PHP

<?php
$fruits = ['apple', 'banana', 'cherry', 'date', 'elderberry'];
$searchFruit = 'cherry';
$found = in_array($searchFruit, $fruits);

// Print the result using if statement

Need a hint?

Use if ($found) to check the boolean and print() to show the message.