key()

key() — Fetch a key from an array.

Built-in function of PHP 8.5. The manual lists it as available in PHP 4, PHP 5, PHP 7, PHP 8. This page is the reference card: signature, parameters and return value, plus the changelog and the example the manual provides.

What it does

key() returns the index element of the current array position.

Signature

key(array|object $array): int|string|null

Parameters

Parameter	Type	What it takes
$array	array\|object	The array.

Return value

The key() function simply returns the key of the array element that's currently being pointed to by the internal pointer. It does not move the pointer in any way. If the internal pointer points beyond the end of the elements list or the array is empty, key() returns null.

Example

A runnable snippet:

$array = array( 'fruit1' => 'apple', 'fruit2' => 'orange', 'fruit3' => 'grape', 'fruit4' => 'apple', 'fruit5' => 'apple'); // this cycle echoes all associative array // key where value equals "apple" while ($fruit_name = current($array)) { if ($fruit_name == 'apple') { echo key($array), "\n"; } next($array); }

Output:

fruit1 fruit4 fruit5

Changelog

Version	Change
8.1.0	Calling this function on objects is deprecated. Either convert the object to an array using get_mangled_object_vars() first, or use the methods provided by a class that implements Iterator, such as ArrayIterator, instead.
7.4.0	Instances of SPL classes are now treated like empty objects that have no properties instead of calling the Iterator method with the same name as this function.