The array_pad Function

The array_pad function pads an array to a specified size with a value. The first parameter is the array to pad, the second parameter is the target size, and the third is the padding value.

The second parameter can be negative - in this case, the array will be padded from the beginning, not from the end.

Syntax

phparray_pad(array $array, int $length, mixed $value): array

Example

Let's pad the array with zeros so that its size becomes 7 elements:

php<?php
  $arr = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e'];
  
  $res = array_pad($arr, 7, 0);
  var_dump($res);
?>

Code execution result:

php['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 0, 0]

Example

Now the array already has 7 elements - so it won't be padded with anything:

php<?php
  $arr = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f', 'g'];
  
  $res = array_pad($arr, 7, 0);
  var_dump($res);
?>

Code execution result:

php['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f', 'g']

Example

Let's make the second parameter negative. In this case, the array will be padded from the beginning, not from the end:

php<?php
  $arr = ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e'];
  
  $res = array_pad($arr, -7, 0);
  var_dump($res);
?>

Code execution result:

php[0, 0, 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e']

See Also