count

(PHP 4, PHP 5, PHP 7, PHP 8)

count — Conta todos os elementos de um array ou de um objeto Countable

Descrição

count(Countable|array $value, int $mode = COUNT_NORMAL): int

Conta todos os elementos de um array quando usado com um array. Quando usado com um objeto que implementa a interface Countable, retorna o valor de retorno do método Countable::count().

Parâmetros

value: Um array ou objeto Countable.
mode: Se o parâmetro opcional mode for definido para COUNT_RECURSIVE (ou 1), a função count() irá recursivamente contar o array. Isto é particularmente útil para contar todos os elementos de um array multidimensional.

Cuidado
count() pode detectar recursividade para evitar um loop infinito, mas irá emitir um aviso E_WARNING cada vez que o fizer (caso o array contenha a si mesmo mais de uma vez) e retornará uma contagem maior que a esperada.

Valor Retornado

Retorna o número de elementos em value. Antes do PHP 8.0.0, se o parâmetro não fosse um array nem um object que implementa a interface Countable, 1 seria retornado, a menos que value fosse null, e neste caso 0 seria retornado.

Registro de Alterações

Versão	Descrição
8.0.0	count() irá agora disparar TypeError em tipos contáveis inválidos passados no parâmetro `value`.
7.2.0	count() irá agora emitir um aviso em tipos contáveis inválidos passados no parâmetro `value`.

Exemplos

Exemplo #1 Exemplo da função count()

<?php
$a[0] = 1;
$a[1] = 3;
$a[2] = 5;
var_dump(count($a));

$b[0]  = 7;
$b[5]  = 9;
$b[10] = 11;
var_dump(count($b));
?>

O exemplo acima produzirá:

int(3)
int(3)

Exemplo #2 Exemplo de count() em não-Countable|array (contra exemplo - não deve ser feito)

<?php
$b[0]  = 7;
$b[5]  = 9;
$b[10] = 11;
var_dump(count($b));

var_dump(count(null));

var_dump(count(false));
?>

O exemplo acima produzirá:

int(3)
int(0)
int(1)

Saída do exemplo acima no PHP 7.2:

int(3)

Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in … on line 12
int(0)

Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in … on line 14
int(1)

Saída do exemplo acima no PHP 8:

int(3)

Fatal error: Uncaught TypeError: count(): Argument #1 ($var) must be of type Countable .. on line 12

Exemplo #3 Uso recursivo da função count()

<?php
$comidas = array('frutas'   => array('laranja', 'banana', 'maçã'),
                 'vegetais' => array('cenoura', 'couve', 'ervilha'));

// contagem recursiva
var_dump(count($comidas, COUNT_RECURSIVE));

// contagem normal
var_dump(count($comidas));

?>

O exemplo acima produzirá:

int(8)
int(2)

Exemplo #4 Objeto Countable

<?php
class CountOfMethods implements Countable
{
    private function someMethod()
    {
    }

    public function count(): int
    {
        return count(get_class_methods($this));
    }
}

$obj = new CountOfMethods();
var_dump(count($obj));
?>

O exemplo acima produzirá:

int(2)

Veja Também

is_array() - Verifica se a variável é um array
isset() - Determina se uma variável está declarada e é diferente de null
empty() - Determina se uma variável está vazia
strlen() - Retorna o tamanho de uma string
is_countable() - Verifica se o conteúdo de uma variável é um valor contável
Arrays

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User Contributed Notes 18 notes

down

137

onlyranga at gmail dot com ¶

10 years ago


[Editor's note: array at from dot pl had pointed out that count() is a cheap operation; however, there's still the function call overhead.]



If you want to run through large arrays don't use count() function in the loops , its a over head in performance,  copy the count() value into a variable and use that value in loops for a better performance.



Eg:



// Bad approach



for($i=0;$i<count($some_arr);$i++)

{

    // calculations

}



// Good approach



$arr_length = count($some_arr);

for($i=0;$i<$arr_length;$i++)

{

    // calculations

}

down

Anonymous ¶

5 years ago


For a Non Countable Objects

$count = count($data);
print "Count: $count\n";

Warning:  count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in example.php on line 159

#Quick fix is to just cast the non-countable object as an array..  

$count = count((array) $data);
print "Count: $count\n";

Count: 250

down

lucasfsmartins at gmail dot com ¶

5 years ago


If you are on PHP 7.2+, you need to be aware of "Changelog" and use something like this:

<?php
$countFruits = is_array($countFruits) || $countFruits instanceof Countable ? count($countFruits) : 0;
?>

You can organize your code to ensure that the variable is an array, or you can extend the Countable so that you don't have to do this check.

down

Christoph097 ¶

2 years ago


Empty values are counted:
<?php
$ar[] = 3;
$ar[] = null;
var_dump(count($ar)); //int(2)
?>

down

danny at dannymendel dot com ¶

17 years ago


I actually find the following function more useful when it comes to multidimension arrays when you do not want all levels of the array tree.



// $limit is set to the number of recursions

<?php

function count_recursive ($array, $limit) {

    $count = 0;

    foreach ($array as $id => $_array) {

        if (is_array ($_array) && $limit > 0) {

            $count += count_recursive ($_array, $limit - 1);

        } else {

            $count += 1;

        }

    }

    return $count;

}

?>

down

olja dot fb at gmail dot com ¶

1 year ago


In example #3, given as:

<?php
$food = array('fruits' => array('orange', 'banana', 'apple'),
              'veggie' => array('carrot', 'collard', 'pea'));

// recursive count
var_dump(count($food, COUNT_RECURSIVE));
?>

with the output given as int(8), it may have some readers mistaken, as I was at first: one might take it as keys being counted as well as the inner array entries:

<?php
// NO:
'fruits', 'orange', 'banana', 'apple', 
'veggie', 'carrot', 'collard', 'pea'
?>

But actually keys are not counted in count function, and why it is still 8 - because inner arrays are counted as entries as well as their inner elements:

<?php
// YES:
array('orange', 'banana', 'apple'), 'orange', 'banana', 'apple', 
array('carrot', 'collard', 'pea'), 'carrot', 'collard', 'pea'
?>

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asma mechtaba ¶

2 years ago


count and sizeof are aliases, what work for one works for the other.

down

alexandr at vladykin dot pp dot ru ¶

18 years ago


My function returns the number of elements in array for multidimensional arrays subject to depth of array. (Almost COUNT_RECURSIVE, but you can point on which depth you want to plunge).



<?php

  function getArrCount ($arr, $depth=1) {

      if (!is_array($arr) || !$depth) return 0;

         

     $res=count($arr);

         

      foreach ($arr as $in_ar)

         $res+=getArrCount($in_ar, $depth-1);

      

      return $res;

  }

?>

down

pied-pierre ¶

9 years ago


A function of one line to find the number of elements that are not arrays, recursively :

function count_elt($array, &$count=0){
  foreach($array as $v) if(is_array($v)) count_elt($v,$count); else ++$count;
  return $count;
}

down

php_count at cubmd dot com ¶

7 years ago


All the previous recursive count solutions with $depth option would not avoid infinite loops in case the array contains itself more than once.

Here's a working solution:



<?php

    /**

     * Recursively count elements in an array. Behaves exactly the same as native

     * count() function with the $depth option. Meaning it will also add +1 to the

     * total count, for the parent element, and not only counting its children.

     * @param $arr

     * @param int $depth

     * @param int $i (internal)

     * @return int

     */

    public static function countRecursive(&$arr, $depth = 0, $i = 0) {

        $i++;

        /**

         * In case the depth is 0, use the native count function

         */

        if (empty($depth)) {

            return count($arr, COUNT_RECURSIVE);

        }

        $count = 0;

        /**

         * This can occur only the first time when the method is called and $arr is not an array

         */

        if (!is_array($arr)) {

            return count($arr);

        }



        // if this key is present, it means you already walked this array

        if (isset($arr['__been_here'])) {

            return 0;

        }



        $arr['__been_here'] = true;



        foreach ($arr as $key => &$value) {

            if ($key !== '__been_here') {

                if (is_array($value) && $depth > $i) {

                    $count += self::countRecursive($value, $depth, $i);

                }



                $count++;

            }

        }



        // you need to unset it when done because you're working with a reference...

        unset($arr['__been_here']);

        return $count;

    }

?>

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-3

Gerd Christian Kunze ¶

10 years ago


Get maxWidth and maxHeight of a two dimensional array..?

Note:
1st dimension = Y (height)
2nd dimension = X (width)
e.g. rows and cols in database result arrays

<?php
$TwoDimensionalArray = array( 0 => array( 'key' => 'value', ...), ... );
?>

So for Y (maxHeight) 
<?php
$maxHeight = count( $TwoDimensionalArray )
?>

And for X (maxWidth)
<?php
$maxWidth = max( array_map( 'count',  $TwoDimensionalArray ) );
?>

Simple? ;-)

down

-6

buyatv at gmail dot com ¶

7 years ago


You can not get collect sub array count when there is only one sub array in an array: 

$a = array ( array ('a','b','c','d'));
$b = array ( array ('a','b','c','d'), array ('e','f','g','h'));

echo count($a);  // 4 NOT 1, expect 1
echo count($b);  // 2,   expected

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-9

JumpIfBelow ¶

9 years ago


As I see in many codes, don't use count to iterate through array.
Onlyranga says you could declare a variable to store it before the for loop.
I agree with his/her approach, using count in the test should be used ONLY if you have to count the size of the array for each loop.

You can do it in the for loop too, so you don't have to "search" where the variable is set.
e.g.
<?php
    $array = [1, 5, 'element'];
    for($i = 0, $c = count($array); $i < $c; $i++)
        var_dump($array[$i]);
?>

down

-5

vojtaripa at gmail dot com ¶

4 years ago


To get the count of the inner array you can do something like:

$inner_count = count($array[0]);
echo ($inner_count);

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-18

buyatv at gmail dot com ¶

7 years ago


You can not get collect sub array count when use the key on only one sub array in an array: 

$a = array("a"=>"appple", b"=>array('a'=>array(1,2,3),'b'=>array(1,2,3)));
$b = array("a"=>"appple", "b"=>array(array('a'=>array(1,2,3),'b'=>array(1,2,3)), array(1,2,3),'b'=>array(1,2,3)), array('a'=>array(1,2,3),'b'=>array(1,2,3))));

echo count($a['b']);  // 2 NOT 1, expect 1
echo count($b['b']);  // 3,   expected

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-30

ThisIsNotImportant ¶

8 years ago


About 2d arrays, you have many way to count elements :

<?php
$MyArray = array ( array(1,2,3),
                   1,
                   'a',
                   array('a','b','c','d') );

// All elements
echo count($MyArray ,COUNT_RECURSIVE);  // output 11 (9 values + 2 arrays)

// First level elements
echo count($MyArray );                  // output 4 (2 values+ 2 arrays)

// Both level values, but only values
echo(array_sum(array_map('count',$MyArray ))); //output 9 (9 values)

// Only second level values
echo (count($MyArray ,COUNT_RECURSIVE)-count($MyArray )); //output 7 ((all elements) - (first elements))
?>

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-6

max at schimmelmann dot org ¶

4 years ago


In special situations you might only want to count the first level of the array to figure out how many entries you have, when they have N more key-value-pairs.

<?php

$data = [
    'a' => [
        'bla1' => [
            0 => 'asdf',
            1 => 'asdf',
            2 => 'asdf',
        ],
        'bla2' => [
            0 => 'asdf',
            1 => 'asdf',
            2 => 'asdf',
        ],
        'bla3' => [
            0 => 'asdf',
            1 => 'asdf',
            2 => 'asdf',
        ],
        'bla4' => [
            0 => 'asdf',
            1 => 'asdf',
            2 => 'asdf',
        ],
    ],
    'b' => [
        'bla1' => [
            0 => 'asdf',
            1 => 'asdf',
            2 => 'asdf',
        ],
        'bla2' => [
            0 => 'asdf',
            1 => 'asdf',
            2 => 'asdf',
        ],
    ],
    'c' => [
        'bla1' => [
            0 => 'asdf',
            1 => 'asdf',
            2 => 'asdf',
        ]
    ]
];
$count = array_sum(array_values(array_map('count', $data)));
// will return int(7)
var_dump($count);

// will return 31
var_dump(count($data, 1));
?>

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-10

XavDeb ¶

4 years ago


If you want to know the sub-array containing the MAX NUMBER of values in a 3 dimensions array, here is a try (maybe not the nicest way, but it works):

function how_big_is_the_biggest_sub ($array)  {
   // we parse the 1st level
   foreach ($array AS $key => $array_lvl2) {
         //within level 2, we count the 3d levels max
            $lvl2_nb = array_map( 'count',  $array_lvl2) ;
            $max_nb = max($lvl2_nb);
         // we store the matching keys, it might be usefull
            $max_key = array_search($max_nb, $lvl2_nb);
            $max_nb_all[$max_key.'|'.$key] = $max_nb;
        }
       // now we want the max from all levels 2, so one more time
        $real_max = max($max_nb_all);
        $real_max_key = array_search($real_max, $max_nb_all);
        list($real_max_key2, $real_max_key1) = explode('|', $real_max_key);
                // preparing result
        $biggest_sub['max'] = $real_max;
        $biggest_sub['key1'] = $real_max_key1;
        $biggest_sub['key2'] = $real_max_key2;
        
        return $biggest_sub;
}
/*
$cat_poids_max['M']['Juniors'][] = 55; 
$cat_poids_max['M']['Juniors'][] = 61; 
$cat_poids_max['M']['Juniors'][] = 68; 
$cat_poids_max['M']['Juniors'][] = 76; 
$cat_poids_max['M']['Juniors'][] = 100; 

$cat_poids_max['M']['Seniors'][] = 55; 
$cat_poids_max['M']['Seniors'][] = 60; 
$cat_poids_max['M']['Seniors'][] = 67; 
$cat_poids_max['M']['Seniors'][] = 75; 
$cat_poids_max['M']['Seniors'][] = 84; 
$cat_poids_max['M']['Seniors'][] = 90; 
$cat_poids_max['M']['Seniors'][] = 100; 
//....
$cat_poids_max['F']['Juniors'][] = 52; 
$cat_poids_max['F']['Juniors'][] = 65; 
$cat_poids_max['F']['Juniors'][] = 74; 
$cat_poids_max['F']['Juniors'][] = 100; 

$cat_poids_max['F']['Seniors'][] = 62; 
$cat_poids_max['F']['Seniors'][] = 67; 
$cat_poids_max['F']['Seniors'][] = 78; 
$cat_poids_max['F']['Seniors'][] = 86; 
$cat_poids_max['F']['Seniors'][] = 100; 
*/
$biggest_sub = how_big_is_the_biggest_sub($cat_poids_max);
echo "<li> ".$biggest_sub['key1']." ==> ".$biggest_sub['key2']." ==> ".$biggest_sub['max']; // displays : M ==> Seniors ==> 7

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