PHP Manual
PrevNext

count

(PHP 3 <= 3.0.18, PHP 4 >= 4.0.0)

count -- Count elements in a variable

Description

int count (mixed var)

Returns the number of elements in var, which is typically an array (since anything else will have one element).

If var is not an array, 1 will be returned (exception: count(NULL) equals 0).

Warning

count() may return 0 for a variable that isn't set, but it may also return 0 for a variable that has been initialized with an empty array. Use isset() to test if a variable is set.

Please see the Arrays section of the manual for a detailed explanation of how arrays are implemented and used in PHP.

Example 1. count() example

$a[0] = 1;
$a[1] = 3;
$a[2] = 5;
$result = count ($a);
// $result == 3

$b[0] = 7;
$b[5] = 9;
$b[10] = 11;
$result = count ($b);
// $result == 3;

Note: The sizeof() function is an alias for count().

See also is_array(), isset(), and strlen().

PrevHomeNext
compactUpcurrent