php is_array() Function – Check if Variable is Array in php

The php is_array() function checks if a variable is an array or not. If the given variable is an array, is_array() returns TRUE. Otherwise, is_array() returns FALSE.

$array = array(1,2,3);
$float = 1.0;
$string = "This is a string";

var_dump(is_array($array));
var_dump(is_array($float));
var_dump(is_array($string));

// Output:
bool(true)
bool(false)
bool(false)

When working with different variables in your php programs, the ability to easily check and know if a variable is of a certain type is very valuable.

One such case is when you want to know if a variable is an array. The php is_array() function allows us to check if a variable is an array.

To use is_array(), just pass the variable you want to check. If the given variable is an array, is_array() returns TRUE. Otherwise, is_array() returns FALSE.

Below are a few examples of using the is_array() to find out if a variable is an array or not in php.

$array = array(1,2,3);
$float = 1.0;
$string = "This is a string";

var_dump(is_array($array));
var_dump(is_array($float));
var_dump(is_array($string));

// Output:
bool(true)
bool(false)
bool(false)

How to Check if a Variable is a String in php

There are many other functions which allow us to check the data type of different variables in php.

Another case is if you want to check if a variable is a string variable.

The php is_string() function checks if a variable is a string variable in the similar way to is_array() – just pass the variable you want to check to is_string().

Below is an example which shows you how to use is_string() to check if a variable is a string in php.

$array = array(1,2,3);
$float = 1.0;
$string = "This is a string";

var_dump(is_string($array));
var_dump(is_string($float));
var_dump(is_string($string));

// Output:
bool(false)
bool(false)
bool(true)

How to Check if a Variable is a Float in php

Another common case where you may want to check the data type of a variable is if you want to check if a variable is a float variable.

The php is_float() function checks if a variable is a float variable in the similar way to is_array() – just pass the variable you want to check to is_float().

Below is an example which shows you how to use is_float() to check if a variable is a float in php.

$array = array(1,2,3);
$float = 1.0;
$string = "This is a string";

var_dump(is_float($array));
var_dump(is_float($float));
var_dump(is_float($string));

// Output:
bool(false)
bool(true)
bool(false)

Hopefully this article has been useful for you to learn how to use the is_array() function in php to check if a variable is an array.