Getting the Length of an Array in PHP

To get the array's length in PHP, you can use the count() and sizeof() functions that return the number of items in the array. Function sizeof() is the alias of the count() function. The count() function returns 0 for a variable initialized by an empty array but may also return 0 for a variable not installed. In this PHP Array Length example, we obtain the array's length using the count() function. Click Execute to run the PHP Array Length Example online and see the result.
Getting the Length of an Array in PHP Execute 
<?php
$fruits = array('apple', 'pear', 'banana', 'orange');

echo count($fruits);
?>
Updated: Viewed: 1057 times

How to count the length of the PHP array?

You can use the count() function to count the length of the specified array. The sizeof() function is an alias for the count() function. The count() function takes two arguments, a list and a length count mode for nested arrays.

PHP count() Syntax
count(array, mode)

PHP sizeof() Syntax
sizeof(array, mode)

Where:
  • array: specifies an array to count
  • mode (Optional): specifies the counting mode. Possible values:
    0 - is the default. It doesn't count all elements of multidimensional arrays
    1 - Counts an array recursively (counts all elements of multidimensional arrays)
PHP count() Example
<?php
$fruits = array('apple', 'pear', 'banana', 'orange');

echo count($fruits);
?>

#output: 4

See also

PHP Array Length Related API examples and articles