How to determine the first and last iteration in a foreach loop?

Question

The question is simple. I have a foreach loop in my code:

foreach($array as $element) {
    //code
}

In this loop, I want to r

Answer 1

If you prefer a solution that does not require the initialization of the counter outside the loop, I propose comparing the current iteration key against the function that tells you the last / first key of the array.

This becomes somewhat more efficient (and more readable) with the upcoming PHP 7.3.

Solution for PHP 7.3 and up:

foreach($array as $key => $element) {
    if ($key === array_key_first($array))
        echo 'FIRST ELEMENT!';

    if ($key === array_key_last($array))
        echo 'LAST ELEMENT!';
}

Solution for all PHP versions:

foreach($array as $key => $element) {
    reset($array);
    if ($key === key($array))
        echo 'FIRST ELEMENT!';

    end($array);
    if ($key === key($array))
        echo 'LAST ELEMENT!';
}

Answer 2

I came across this thread when I have the same problem. I only need to get the first element then I re-analyze my code until this came up to my mind.

$firstElement = true;

foreach ($reportData->result() as $row) 
{
       if($firstElement) { echo "first element"; $firstElement=false; }
       // Other lines of codes here
}

The above codes are great and complete but if you only need just the first element then you may try this code.

Answer 3

You can use an anonymous function, too:

$indexOfLastElement = count($array) - 1;
array_walk($array, function($element, $index) use ($indexOfLastElement) {
    // do something
    if (0 === $index) {
        // first element‘s treatment
    }
    if ($indexOfLastElement === $index) {
        // last not least
    }
});

Three more things should be mentioned:

• If your array isn‘t indexed strictly (numerically) you must pipe your array through array_values first.
• If you need to modify the $element you have to pass it by reference (&$element).
• Any variables from outside the anonymous function you need inside, you‘ll have to list them next to $indexOfLastElement inside the use construct, again by reference if needed.

Answer 4

An attempt to find the first would be:

$first = true; 
foreach ( $obj as $value )
{
  if ( $first )
  {
    // do something
    $first = false; //in order not to get into the if statement for the next loops
  }
  else
  {
    // do something else for all loops except the first
  }
}

Answer 5

Using reset($array) and end($array)

<?php

    $arrays = [1,2,3,4,5];

    $first  = reset($arrays);
    $last   = end($arrays);    

    foreach( $arrays as $array )
    {

        if ( $first == $array )
        {
            echo "<li>{$array} first</li>";
        }
        else if ( $last == $array )
        {
            echo "<li>{$array} last</li>";
        }
        else
        {
            echo "<li>{$array}</li>";
        }                

    }

Demo repl.it

Answer 6

Not sure if it still necessary. But the following solution should work with iterators and does not require count.

<?php

foreach_first_last(array(), function ($key, $value, $step, $first, $last) {
    echo intval($first), ' ', intval($last), ' ', $step, ' ', $value, PHP_EOL;
});

foreach_first_last(array('aa'), function ($key, $value, $step, $first, $last) {
    echo intval($first), ' ', intval($last), ' ', $step, ' ', $value, PHP_EOL;
});
echo PHP_EOL;

foreach_first_last(array('aa', 'bb', 'cc'), function ($key, $value, $step, $first, $last) {
    echo intval($first), ' ', intval($last), ' ', $step, ' ', $value, PHP_EOL;
});
echo PHP_EOL;

function foreach_first_last($array, $cb)
{
    $next = false;
    $current = false;
    reset($array);
    for ($step = 0; true; ++$step) {
        $current = $next;
        $next = each($array);
        $last = ($next === false || $next === null);
        if ($step > 0) {
            $first = $step == 1;
            list ($key, $value) = $current;
            if (call_user_func($cb, $key, $value, $step, $first, $last) === false) {
                break;
            }
        }
        if ($last) {
            break;
        }
    }
}