PHP

Reverse an Associative Array While Preserving Keys

Learn how to reverse the order of elements in a PHP associative array or a numerically indexed array while keeping the original key-value associations intact using array_reverse().

<?php

$associativeArray = [
    'apple' => 1,
    'banana' => 2,
    'cherry' => 3
];

$reversedArray = array_reverse($associativeArray, true);

print_r($reversedArray);

// Output:
// Array
// (
//     [cherry] => 3
//     [banana] => 2
//     [apple] => 1
// )

$numericArray = [10, 20, 30, 40];
$reversedNumericArray = array_reverse($numericArray, true);

print_r($reversedNumericArray);

// Output (keys preserved):
// Array
// (
//     [3] => 40
//     [2] => 30
//     [1] => 20
//     [0] => 10
// )
How it works: The `array_reverse()` function reverses the order of elements in an array. By passing `true` as the second argument (`preserve_keys`), it ensures that the original associative keys or numeric indices are maintained, rather than re-indexing a numerically indexed array from scratch. This is crucial when you need to change element order without losing the key-value mapping.

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