Array functions

[robertoaceves]

From manual page: https://php.net/ref.array

Hi. Is there a good reason to not include these functions:

• join(),
• is_array(),
• explode(),
• implode(),
• preg_split(),

on the Array Functions' Table of Contents ¶.
It is difficult to find these functions and often it requires a web search and reading through several StackOverflow posts.

Thank you.

[Girgias]

Because every single one of those functions are part of a different section of the manual. They might use or return arrays, but they are not predominantly about doing operations on arrays.

[robertoaceves]

Thanks for your response.

I get that these functions are listed in other manual sections, but their purpose is to operate on arrays.

See, for example, the documentation for the next two functions makes explicit they work on arrays.

implode — Join array elements with a string
implode(string $separator, array $array): string

is_array — Finds whether a variable is an array
is_array(mixed $value): bool

It might be my lack of experience with PHP, but one would expect to find these functions in Array Functions' Table of Contents. The Introduction in the Arrays' chapter sets this expectation.

These functions allow you to interact with and manipulate arrays in various ways. Arrays are essential for storing, managing, and operating on sets of variables.

The purpose of this report is to improve the usability of the documentation, so I think it is worth to reconsider it and discuss it with a larger group of maintenance members.

Thanks.

[Girgias]

Their purpose is not to operate on arrays, their purpose is to work on strings, or for is_array() meta-programming/reflections.

This is in stark contrast with functions such as sort(), array_map(), etc.