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count

(PHP 4, PHP 5, PHP 7, PHP 8)

countZählt alle Elemente eines Arrays oder eines Countable-Objekts

Beschreibung

count(Countable|array $value, int $mode = COUNT_NORMAL): int

Zählt alle Elemente eines Arrays, wenn es mit einem Array verwendet wird. Bei Verwendung mit einem Objekt, das die Schnittstelle Countable nutzt, gibt es den Rückgabewert der Methode Countable::count() zurück.

Parameter-Liste

value

Ein Array oder ein Countable-Objekt.

mode

Wenn der optionale Parameter mode auf COUNT_RECURSIVE (oder 1) gesetzt ist, wird count() rekursiv durch das Array zählen. Dies kann besonders nützlich sein, um alle Elemente eines mehrdimensionalen Arrays zu zählen.

Achtung

count() kann Rekursion erkennen, um eine Endlosschleife zu vermeiden, erzeugt aber jedes Mal, wenn es das tut, ein E_WARNING (für den Fall, dass das Array sich selbst mehr als einmal enthält) und gibt eine höhere Anzahl zurück, als erwartet werden kann.

Rückgabewerte

Gibt die Anzahl von Elementen in value zurück. Vor PHP 8.0.0 wurde 1 zurückgegeben, wenn der Parameter weder ein Array noch ein Objekt mit implementierter Countable-Schnittstelle war, es sei denn, value war null, dann wurde 0 zurückgegeben.

Changelog

Version Beschreibung
8.0.0 count() löst nun einen TypeError aus, wenn ungültige zählbare Typen an den Parameter value übergeben werden.
7.2.0 count() erzeugt nun eine Warnung für ungültige zählbare Typen, die an den Parameter value übergeben wurden.

Beispiele

Beispiel #1 count()-Beispiel

<?php
$a
[0] = 1;
$a[1] = 3;
$a[2] = 5;
var_dump(count($a));

$b[0] = 7;
$b[5] = 9;
$b[10] = 11;
var_dump(count($b));
?>

Das oben gezeigte Beispiel erzeugt folgende Ausgabe:

int(3)
int(3)

Beispiel #2 count()-Beispiel für ein nicht zählbares Array (schlechtes Beispiel - nicht verwenden)

<?php
$b
[0] = 7;
$b[5] = 9;
$b[10] = 11;
var_dump(count($b));

var_dump(count(null));

var_dump(count(false));
?>

Das oben gezeigte Beispiel erzeugt folgende Ausgabe:

int(3)
int(0)
int(1)

Das oben gezeigte Beispiel erzeugt mit PHP 7.2 folgende Ausgabe:

int(3)

Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in … on line 12
int(0)

Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in … on line 14
int(1)

Das oben gezeigte Beispiel erzeugt mit PHP 8 folgende Ausgabe:

int(3)

Fatal error: Uncaught TypeError: count(): Argument #1 ($var) must be of type Countable .. on line 12

Beispiel #3 Rekursives count()-Beispiel

<?php
$food
= array('Obst' => array('Orange', 'Banane', 'Apfel'),
'Gemüse' => array('Karotte', 'Kohl', 'Erbse'));

// rekursiv zählen
var_dump(count($food, COUNT_RECURSIVE));

// normales zählen
var_dump(count($food));

?>

Das oben gezeigte Beispiel erzeugt folgende Ausgabe:

int(8)
int(2)

Beispiel #4 Countable-Objekt

<?php
class CountOfMethods implements Countable
{
private function
someMethod()
{
}

public function
count(): int
{
return
count(get_class_methods($this));
}
}

$obj = new CountOfMethods();
var_dump(count($obj));
?>

Das oben gezeigte Beispiel erzeugt folgende Ausgabe:

int(2)

Siehe auch

  • is_array() - Prüft, ob die Variable ein Array ist
  • isset() - Prüft, ob eine Variable deklariert ist und sich von null unterscheidet
  • empty() - Prüft, ob eine Variable leer ist
  • strlen() - Ermitteln der String-Länge
  • is_countable() - Verify that the contents of a variable is a countable value
  • Arrays

add a note

User Contributed Notes 18 notes

up
142
onlyranga at gmail dot com
9 years ago
[Editor's note: array at from dot pl had pointed out that count() is a cheap operation; however, there's still the function call overhead.]

If you want to run through large arrays don't use count() function in the loops , its a over head in performance, copy the count() value into a variable and use that value in loops for a better performance.

Eg:

// Bad approach

for($i=0;$i<count($some_arr);$i++)
{
// calculations
}

// Good approach

$arr_length = count($some_arr);
for($i=0;$i<$arr_length;$i++)
{
// calculations
}
up
1
asma mechtaba
2 years ago
count and sizeof are aliases, what work for one works for the other.
up
2
Christoph097
2 years ago
Empty values are counted:
<?php
$ar
[] = 3;
$ar[] = null;
var_dump(count($ar)); //int(2)
?>
up
4
Anonymous
4 years ago
For a Non Countable Objects

$count = count($data);
print "Count: $count\n";

Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in example.php on line 159

#Quick fix is to just cast the non-countable object as an array..

$count = count((array) $data);
print "Count: $count\n";

Count: 250
up
3
lucasfsmartins at gmail dot com
5 years ago
If you are on PHP 7.2+, you need to be aware of "Changelog" and use something like this:

<?php
$countFruits
= is_array($countFruits) || $countFruits instanceof Countable ? count($countFruits) : 0;
?>

You can organize your code to ensure that the variable is an array, or you can extend the Countable so that you don't have to do this check.
up
13
danny at dannymendel dot com
16 years ago
I actually find the following function more useful when it comes to multidimension arrays when you do not want all levels of the array tree.

// $limit is set to the number of recursions
<?php
function count_recursive ($array, $limit) {
$count = 0;
foreach (
$array as $id => $_array) {
if (
is_array ($_array) && $limit > 0) {
$count += count_recursive ($_array, $limit - 1);
} else {
$count += 1;
}
}
return
$count;
}
?>
up
3
pied-pierre
8 years ago
A function of one line to find the number of elements that are not arrays, recursively :

function count_elt($array, &$count=0){
foreach($array as $v) if(is_array($v)) count_elt($v,$count); else ++$count;
return $count;
}
up
9
alexandr at vladykin dot pp dot ru
17 years ago
My function returns the number of elements in array for multidimensional arrays subject to depth of array. (Almost COUNT_RECURSIVE, but you can point on which depth you want to plunge).

<?php
function getArrCount ($arr, $depth=1) {
if (!
is_array($arr) || !$depth) return 0;

$res=count($arr);

foreach (
$arr as $in_ar)
$res+=getArrCount($in_ar, $depth-1);

return
$res;
}
?>
up
1
php_count at cubmd dot com
7 years ago
All the previous recursive count solutions with $depth option would not avoid infinite loops in case the array contains itself more than once.
Here's a working solution:

<?php
/**
* Recursively count elements in an array. Behaves exactly the same as native
* count() function with the $depth option. Meaning it will also add +1 to the
* total count, for the parent element, and not only counting its children.
* @param $arr
* @param int $depth
* @param int $i (internal)
* @return int
*/
public static function countRecursive(&$arr, $depth = 0, $i = 0) {
$i++;
/**
* In case the depth is 0, use the native count function
*/
if (empty($depth)) {
return
count($arr, COUNT_RECURSIVE);
}
$count = 0;
/**
* This can occur only the first time when the method is called and $arr is not an array
*/
if (!is_array($arr)) {
return
count($arr);
}

// if this key is present, it means you already walked this array
if (isset($arr['__been_here'])) {
return
0;
}

$arr['__been_here'] = true;

foreach (
$arr as $key => &$value) {
if (
$key !== '__been_here') {
if (
is_array($value) && $depth > $i) {
$count += self::countRecursive($value, $depth, $i);
}

$count++;
}
}

// you need to unset it when done because you're working with a reference...
unset($arr['__been_here']);
return
$count;
}
?>
up
-4
buyatv at gmail dot com
7 years ago
You can not get collect sub array count when there is only one sub array in an array:

$a = array ( array ('a','b','c','d'));
$b = array ( array ('a','b','c','d'), array ('e','f','g','h'));

echo count($a); // 4 NOT 1, expect 1
echo count($b); // 2, expected
up
-6
Gerd Christian Kunze
10 years ago
Get maxWidth and maxHeight of a two dimensional array..?

Note:
1st dimension = Y (height)
2nd dimension = X (width)
e.g. rows and cols in database result arrays

<?php
$TwoDimensionalArray
= array( 0 => array( 'key' => 'value', ...), ... );
?>

So for Y (maxHeight)
<?php
$maxHeight
= count( $TwoDimensionalArray )
?>

And for X (maxWidth)
<?php
$maxWidth
= max( array_map( 'count', $TwoDimensionalArray ) );
?>

Simple? ;-)
up
-8
JumpIfBelow
8 years ago
As I see in many codes, don't use count to iterate through array.
Onlyranga says you could declare a variable to store it before the for loop.
I agree with his/her approach, using count in the test should be used ONLY if you have to count the size of the array for each loop.

You can do it in the for loop too, so you don't have to "search" where the variable is set.
e.g.
<?php
$array
= [1, 5, 'element'];
for(
$i = 0, $c = count($array); $i < $c; $i++)
var_dump($array[$i]);
?>
up
-1
olja dot fb at gmail dot com
9 months ago
In example #3, given as:

<?php
$food
= array('fruits' => array('orange', 'banana', 'apple'),
'veggie' => array('carrot', 'collard', 'pea'));

// recursive count
var_dump(count($food, COUNT_RECURSIVE));
?>

with the output given as int(8), it may have some readers mistaken, as I was at first: one might take it as keys being counted as well as the inner array entries:

<?php
// NO:
'fruits', 'orange', 'banana', 'apple',
'veggie', 'carrot', 'collard', 'pea'
?>

But actually keys are not counted in count function, and why it is still 8 - because inner arrays are counted as entries as well as their inner elements:

<?php
// YES:
array('orange', 'banana', 'apple'), 'orange', 'banana', 'apple',
array(
'carrot', 'collard', 'pea'), 'carrot', 'collard', 'pea'
?>
up
-4
vojtaripa at gmail dot com
3 years ago
To get the count of the inner array you can do something like:

$inner_count = count($array[0]);
echo ($inner_count);
up
-17
buyatv at gmail dot com
7 years ago
You can not get collect sub array count when use the key on only one sub array in an array:

$a = array("a"=>"appple", b"=>array('a'=>array(1,2,3),'b'=>array(1,2,3)));
$b = array("a"=>"appple", "b"=>array(array('a'=>array(1,2,3),'b'=>array(1,2,3)), array(1,2,3),'b'=>array(1,2,3)), array('a'=>array(1,2,3),'b'=>array(1,2,3))));

echo count($a['b']); // 2 NOT 1, expect 1
echo count($b['b']); // 3, expected
up
-4
max at schimmelmann dot org
4 years ago
In special situations you might only want to count the first level of the array to figure out how many entries you have, when they have N more key-value-pairs.

<?php

$data
= [
'a' => [
'bla1' => [
0 => 'asdf',
1 => 'asdf',
2 => 'asdf',
],
'bla2' => [
0 => 'asdf',
1 => 'asdf',
2 => 'asdf',
],
'bla3' => [
0 => 'asdf',
1 => 'asdf',
2 => 'asdf',
],
'bla4' => [
0 => 'asdf',
1 => 'asdf',
2 => 'asdf',
],
],
'b' => [
'bla1' => [
0 => 'asdf',
1 => 'asdf',
2 => 'asdf',
],
'bla2' => [
0 => 'asdf',
1 => 'asdf',
2 => 'asdf',
],
],
'c' => [
'bla1' => [
0 => 'asdf',
1 => 'asdf',
2 => 'asdf',
]
]
];
$count = array_sum(array_values(array_map('count', $data)));
// will return int(7)
var_dump($count);

// will return 31
var_dump(count($data, 1));
?>
up
-31
ThisIsNotImportant
8 years ago
About 2d arrays, you have many way to count elements :

<?php
$MyArray
= array ( array(1,2,3),
1,
'a',
array(
'a','b','c','d') );

// All elements
echo count($MyArray ,COUNT_RECURSIVE); // output 11 (9 values + 2 arrays)

// First level elements
echo count($MyArray ); // output 4 (2 values+ 2 arrays)

// Both level values, but only values
echo(array_sum(array_map('count',$MyArray ))); //output 9 (9 values)

// Only second level values
echo (count($MyArray ,COUNT_RECURSIVE)-count($MyArray )); //output 7 ((all elements) - (first elements))
?>
up
-11
XavDeb
4 years ago
If you want to know the sub-array containing the MAX NUMBER of values in a 3 dimensions array, here is a try (maybe not the nicest way, but it works):

function how_big_is_the_biggest_sub ($array) {
// we parse the 1st level
foreach ($array AS $key => $array_lvl2) {
//within level 2, we count the 3d levels max
$lvl2_nb = array_map( 'count', $array_lvl2) ;
$max_nb = max($lvl2_nb);
// we store the matching keys, it might be usefull
$max_key = array_search($max_nb, $lvl2_nb);
$max_nb_all[$max_key.'|'.$key] = $max_nb;
}
// now we want the max from all levels 2, so one more time
$real_max = max($max_nb_all);
$real_max_key = array_search($real_max, $max_nb_all);
list($real_max_key2, $real_max_key1) = explode('|', $real_max_key);
// preparing result
$biggest_sub['max'] = $real_max;
$biggest_sub['key1'] = $real_max_key1;
$biggest_sub['key2'] = $real_max_key2;

return $biggest_sub;
}
/*
$cat_poids_max['M']['Juniors'][] = 55;
$cat_poids_max['M']['Juniors'][] = 61;
$cat_poids_max['M']['Juniors'][] = 68;
$cat_poids_max['M']['Juniors'][] = 76;
$cat_poids_max['M']['Juniors'][] = 100;

$cat_poids_max['M']['Seniors'][] = 55;
$cat_poids_max['M']['Seniors'][] = 60;
$cat_poids_max['M']['Seniors'][] = 67;
$cat_poids_max['M']['Seniors'][] = 75;
$cat_poids_max['M']['Seniors'][] = 84;
$cat_poids_max['M']['Seniors'][] = 90;
$cat_poids_max['M']['Seniors'][] = 100;
//....
$cat_poids_max['F']['Juniors'][] = 52;
$cat_poids_max['F']['Juniors'][] = 65;
$cat_poids_max['F']['Juniors'][] = 74;
$cat_poids_max['F']['Juniors'][] = 100;

$cat_poids_max['F']['Seniors'][] = 62;
$cat_poids_max['F']['Seniors'][] = 67;
$cat_poids_max['F']['Seniors'][] = 78;
$cat_poids_max['F']['Seniors'][] = 86;
$cat_poids_max['F']['Seniors'][] = 100;
*/
$biggest_sub = how_big_is_the_biggest_sub($cat_poids_max);
echo "<li> ".$biggest_sub['key1']." ==> ".$biggest_sub['key2']." ==> ".$biggest_sub['max']; // displays : M ==> Seniors ==> 7
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