php.net |  support |  documentation |  report a bug |  advanced search |  search howto |  statistics |  random bug |  login

go to bug id or search bugs for

Request #61946 Implement array_first() and array_last()
Submitted: 2012-05-05 02:22 UTC Modified: 2021-04-27 13:41 UTC
Votes:3
Avg. Score:5.0 ± 0.0
Reproduced:3 of 3 (100.0%)
Same Version:1 (33.3%)
Same OS:1 (33.3%)
From: phristen at yahoo dot com Assigned: cmb (profile)
Status: Closed Package: Arrays related
PHP Version: Irrelevant OS:
Private report: No CVE-ID: None
View Developer Edit
Welcome back! If you're the original bug submitter, here's where you can edit the bug or add additional notes.
If you forgot your password, you can retrieve your password here.
Password:
Status:
Package:
Bug Type:
Summary:
From: phristen at yahoo dot com
New email:
PHP Version: OS:

 

 [2012-05-05 02:22 UTC] phristen at yahoo dot com 
Description:
------------
Retrieving the first or the last element of an array (without modifying the array) is a very common task.

It is really annoying that PHP wouldn't come with built-in functions to do that.

Can you please implement the following 2 array functions:
array_first(array $array) - returns the first element of $array
array_last(array $array) - returns the last element of $array

Also consider implementing another pair of function to retrieve the keys: array_first_key and array_last_key.

Test script:
---------------
$test = array(
  100 => "a",
  200 => "b",
  300 => "c",
  400 => "d");

echo array_first($test)."\n";
echo array_last($test)."\n";
echo key($test)."\n";
echo implode(",", $test);

Expected result:
----------------
a
d
100
a,b,c,d

Actual result:
--------------
Fatal error:  Call to undefined function array_first() on line 3

Patches

Pull Requests

History

AllCommentsChangesGit/SVN commitsRelated reports
 [2012-05-05 02:44 UTC] reeze dot xia at gmail dot com 
Hi, phristen,
  you request can be easily satisfied by using:

$array = array(1, 2, 3);

reset($array); // point to the first element
echo key($array); // the first key: 0
echo current($array); // first value

end($array); // now point to the last values
echo key($array); // last key
echo current($array); // last value

please refer to : http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.reset.php
----------------------

BTW: if you want to get all of keys of an array,
you could use array_keys()  but not key() :)

Thanks.
 [2012-05-05 02:56 UTC] reeze dot xia at gmail dot com 
But from my point view, I'd like those functions. It really makes
code more easy to read.
 [2012-05-05 03:22 UTC] phristen at yahoo dot com 
This is a very basic operation, and it should be done in a single function call.
I know about reset(), and I think it's ridiculous to have to call it every time I need to get the last element. It's also easy to 'forget' to reset it, and mess up your arrays.
And it's gonna turn into a terrible mess when you have to use first and last in a single statement (e.g. comparing first to last inside an if())

P.S.
I just used key() in my example to demonstrate that array_last should not change the internal pointer.
 [2018-08-12 22:57 UTC] carusogabriel@php.net 
> Also consider implementing another pair of function to retrieve the keys: array_first_key and array_last_key.

These two functions were implemented via https://wiki.php.net/rfc/array_key_first_last in PHP 7.3
 [2021-04-27 13:41 UTC] cmb@php.net
-Status: Open +Status: Closed -Assigned To: +Assigned To: cmb
 [2021-04-27 13:41 UTC] cmb@php.net 
Indeed, array_key_first() and array_key_last() are available as of
PHP 7.3.0.  array_value_first() and array_value_last() have been
explicitly rejected, since the easily can be implemented in
userland (or used inline).
 
PHP Copyright © 2001-2025 The PHP Group
All rights reserved. 		Last updated: Sat Jun 28 06:01:36 2025 UTC