How to access an associative array by integer index in PHP?

In PHP, associative arrays use string keys instead of numeric indices. To access an associative array by integer index, you need to first get the array keys using array_keys() and then use the integer index to access the corresponding key.

Basic Access Method

The most common approach is to extract all keys into an indexed array and then use integer indices to access them ?

<?php
    $arr = array("p"=>"150", "q"=>"100", "r"=>"120", "s"=>"110");
    $keys = array_keys($arr);
    echo "Array key and value...
";
    for($x = 0; $x < sizeof($arr); $x++) {
        echo "key: ". $keys[$x] . ", value: ". $arr[$keys[$x]] . "
";
    }
?>

Array key and value...
key: p, value: 150
key: q, value: 100
key: r, value: 120
key: s, value: 110

Modifying Values by Integer Index

You can also modify associative array values using integer indices by referencing the key obtained from the keys array ?

<?php
    $arr = array("p"=>"150", "q"=>"100", "r"=>"120", "s"=>"110");
    $keys = array_keys($arr);
    echo "Array key and value...
";
    for($x = 0; $x < sizeof($arr); $x++) {
        echo "key: ". $keys[$x] . ", value: ". $arr[$keys[$x]] . "
";
    }
    
    $arr[$keys[2]] = "20";
    $arr[$keys[3]] = "10";
    echo "\nUpdated Array key and value...
";
    for($x = 0; $x < sizeof($arr); $x++) {
        echo "key: ". $keys[$x] . ", value: ". $arr[$keys[$x]] . "
";
    }
?>

Array key and value...
key: p, value: 150
key: q, value: 100
key: r, value: 120
key: s, value: 110

Updated Array key and value...
key: p, value: 150
key: q, value: 100
key: r, value: 20
key: s, value: 10

Alternative Using array_values()

For direct value access without keys, you can use array_values() to get an indexed array of values ?

<?php
    $arr = array("p"=>"150", "q"=>"100", "r"=>"120", "s"=>"110");
    $values = array_values($arr);
    echo "Accessing by integer index:
";
    echo "Index 0: " . $values[0] . "
";
    echo "Index 2: " . $values[2] . "
";
?>

Accessing by integer index:
Index 0: 150
Index 2: 120

Conclusion

Use array_keys() to convert associative array access to integer-based indexing. This method preserves the original key-value relationships while allowing numeric index access for iteration and modification.