Accessing an array element when returning from a function
echo ${!${false}=getArray()}[0];
This is how it works, step by step
${false}=getArray()
assigns the result of getArray to a variable with an empty name ('' or null would work instead of false)
!${false}=getArray()
negates the above value, turning it to boolean false
${!${false}=getArray()}
converts the previous (false) value to an (empty) string and uses this string as a variable name. That is, this is the variable from the step 1, equal to the result of getArray.
${!${false}=getArray()}[0];
takes index of that "empty" variable and returns an array element.
Some more variations of the same idea
echo ${1|${1}=getArray()}[1];echo ${''.$Array=getArray()}[1];function p(&$a, $b) { $a = $b; return '_'; }echo ${p($_, getArray())}[1];
As to why getArray()[0]
doesn't work, this is because php team has no clue how to get it to work.
it works because your using the braces to turn the value into a varialbe, heres an example.
$hello = 'test';echo ${"hello"};
Why is this needed, this is needed encase you want to turn a string or returned value into a variable, example
${$_GET['var']} = true;
This is bad practise and should never be used IMO.
you should use Objects if you wish to directly run off functions, example
function test(){ $object = new stdClass(); $object->name = 'Robert'; return $object;}echo test()->name;
It should be noted that you can do this as of PHP 5.4. From the manual on array dereferencing:
As of PHP 5.4 it is possible to array dereference the result of a function or method call directly. Before it was only possible using a temporary variable.
Example:
function theArray() { return range(1, 10);}echo theArray()[0];// PHP 5.4+: 1// PHP -5.4: null
Pre PHP 5.4: Attempting to access an array key which has not been defined is the same as accessing any other undefined variable: an E_NOTICE-level error message will be issued, and the result will be NULL.
Manual: