How to convert array to a string using methods other than JSON?

Question

What is a function in PHP used to convert array to string, other than using JSON?

I know there is a function that directly does like JSON. I just don\'t remember.

Answer 1

You are looking for serialize(). Here is an example:

$array = array('foo', 'bar');

//Array to String
$string = serialize($array);

//String to array
$array = unserialize($string);

Answer 2

Display array in beautiful way:

function arrayDisplay($input)
{
    return implode(
        ', ',
        array_map(
            function ($v, $k) {
                return sprintf("%s => '%s'", $k, $v);
            },
            $input,
            array_keys($input)
        )
    );
}

$arr = array('foo'=>'bar',
              'baz'=>'boom',
              'cow'=>'milk',
              'php'=>'hypertext processor');

echo arrayDisplay($arr);

Displays:

foo => 'bar', baz => 'boom', cow => 'milk', php => 'hypertext processor'