How to Convert Array to String in PHP?

Last Updated : 16 Sep, 2024

We are given an array and the task is to convert the array elements into a string.

Below are the approaches to convert an array to a string in PHP:

Table of Content

Using implode() function
Using json_encode() Function
Using sprintf
Using serialize() Function

Using implode() function

The implode() method is an inbuilt function in PHP and is used to join the elements of an array. The implode() method is an alias for PHP | join() function and works exactly the same as that of the join() function.

Syntax:

string implode($separator, $array)

Example:

<?php  

// Declare an array 
$arr = array("Welcome","to", "GeeksforGeeks", 
    "A", "Computer","Science","Portal");  
  
// Converting array elements into
// strings using implode function
echo implode(" ",$arr);
 
?>

Output:

Welcome to GeeksforGeeks A Computer Science Portal

Using json_encode() Function

The json_encode() function is an inbuilt function in PHP which is used to convert PHP array or object into JSON representation.

Syntax:

string json_encode( $value, $option, $depth )

Example:

<?php 

// Declare multi-dimensional array 
$value = array( 
    "name"=>"GFG", 
    array( 
        "email"=>"abc@gfg.com", 
        "mobile"=>"XXXXXXXXXX"
    ) 
); 

// Use json_encode() function 
$json = json_encode($value); 

// Display the output 
echo($json); 

?>

Output:

{"name":"GFG","0":{"email":"abc@gfg.com","mobile":"XXXXXXXXXX"}}

Using sprintf

This PHP code uses sprintf() to format an array into a string. The %s placeholders in the format string match each array element, expanding with …$array, resulting in “Hello World in PHP” as output.

Example:

<?php
$array = array('Hello', 'World', 'in', 'PHP');
$string = sprintf('%s %s %s %s', ...$array);

echo $string;  // Output: Hello World in PHP
?>

Output

Hello World in PHP

Using serialize() Function

The serialize() function creates a serialized string representation of a PHP value, including arrays. This can be useful for storing arrays in a text format that can be easily restored.

Example: In this example, the convertArrayToString function uses the serialize() function to convert the input array into a serialized string. This string can be stored or transmitted as needed.

<?php
function convertArrayToString($array) {
    return serialize($array);
}

// Example usage
$array = ['name' => 'GFG', 'email' => 'abc@gfg.com', 'mobile' => 'XXXXXXXXXX'];
$string = convertArrayToString($array);
echo $string;
// Output: a:3:{s:4:"name";s:3:"GFG";s:5:"email";s:12:"abc@gfg.com";s:6:"mobile";s:10:"XXXXXXXXXX";}

// To unserialize back to array
$unserializedArray = unserialize($string);
print_r($unserializedArray);


?>

Output

a:3:{s:4:"name";s:3:"GFG";s:5:"email";s:11:"abc@gfg.com";s:6:"mobile";s:10:"XXXXXXXXXX";}Array
(
    [name] => GFG
    [email] => abc@gfg.com
    [mobile] => XXXXXXXXXX
)

PHP is a server-side scripting language designed specifically for web development. You can learn PHP from the ground up by following this PHP Tutorial and PHP Examples.