(PHP 7 >= 7.3.0, PHP 8)
array_key_first — Gets the first key of an array
$array): int|string|null
Get the first key of the given array without affecting
the internal array pointer.
arrayAn array.
Returns the first key of array if the array is not empty;
null otherwise.
Example #1 Basic array_key_first() Usage
<?php
$array = ['a' => 1, 'b' => 2, 'c' => 3];
$firstKey = array_key_first($array);
var_dump($firstKey);
?>
The above example will output:
string(1) "a"
There are several ways to provide this functionality for versions prior to PHP 7.3.0. It is possible to use array_keys(), but that may be rather inefficient. It is also possible to use reset() and key(), but that may change the internal array pointer. An efficient solution, which does not change the internal array pointer, written as polyfill:
<?php
if (!function_exists('array_key_first')) {
function array_key_first(array $arr) {
foreach($arr as $key => $unused) {
return $key;
}
return NULL;
}
}
?>