PHP

Flatten a Multidimensional PHP Array

Convert a nested, multidimensional PHP array into a single-dimensional flat array. Essential for processing all elements regardless of their depth.

<?php
function flattenArray(array $array): array {
    $result = [];
    foreach ($array as $element) {
        if (is_array($element)) {
            $result = array_merge($result, flattenArray($element));
        } else {
            $result[] = $element;
        }
    }
    return $result;
}

$multiArray = [
    1,
    [2, 3],
    [4, [5, 6]],
    7
];

$flatArray = flattenArray($multiArray);

print_r($flatArray);
?>
How it works: This custom `flattenArray` function recursively iterates through the input array. If an element is an array itself, it calls itself to flatten that sub-array and merges the result using `array_merge()`. Otherwise, it adds the non-array element directly to the result. This effectively converts a nested structure into a flat list of all its scalar values.

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