Why can't I use an array index on the return value of a function? [closed]

Answer 1

$pieces = explode(',','1,2,3', 1);

Use the first index with:

$pieces[0];

Answer 2

You might also consider....

  list($value_I_want_to_keep)=explode(',','1,2,3', 1);

or

  $value_I_want_to_keep=strtok('1,2,3',',');

Answer 3

In my framework I wrote a function to be able to do it with all possiible array:

function elem($array,$key) {
  return $array[$key];
}

//> usage 
echo elem($whateverArrayHere,'key');
echo elem(explode(),1);

Answer 4

Why can't I do this?

Because PHP doesn't currently support this syntax. But you can pass it to a function, e.g.:

current(explode(',','1,2,3', 1));

Otherwise, you have to assign the return value to a variable first, then access via index.

More Info:

So one can chain method calls or property access. Now for a long time people requested the same thing for array offset access. This was often rejected due to uncertainties about memory issues, as we don't like memory leaks. But after proper evaluation Felipe committed the patch which allows you to do things like:

function foo() {
    return array(1, 2, 3);
}
echo foo()[2]; // prints 3

http://schlueters.de/blog/archives/138-Features-in-PHP-trunk-Array-dereferencing.html

So, it is in the development pipeline but, as I stated, is not currently supported.

Update

PHP >= 5.4 now supports function array dereferencing, e.g. foo()[0]

Answer 5

Explode return an array, not reference.

$tab = explode (',','1,2,3', 1);
$tab[0] = ','