PHP 8.4 introduces several handy array functions that have been missing from the language:

array_find()
array_find_key()
array_any()
array_all()

These functions make it easier to work with arrays when you need to find specific elements within them.

Finding the First Match with array_find()

The array_find() function returns the first element within an array that is returned when its callback returns true:

$codes = [
    'a' => 'alpha',
    'b' => 'beta',
    'c' => 'charlie',
];

$firstMatch = array_find($codes, function(string $value, string $key) {
    return strlen($value) < 5;
});

echo $firstMatch; // 'beta'

Note how within the callback we have access to the current record's value and key.

Getting Just the Key with array_find_key()

The array_find_key() function works just like array_find(), but rather than returning the value, it returns the key:

$codes = [
    'a' => 'alpha',
    'b' => 'beta',
    'c' => 'charlie',
];

$firstMatch = array_find_key($codes, function(string $value, string $key) {
    return strlen($value) < 5;
});

echo $firstMatch; // 'b'

Testing Arrays with array_any() and array_all()

There are a couple other new related functions in PHP 8.4, including array_any() and array_all(). These functions return a boolean though rather than values, which is useful for conditional checks against array matches, similar to JavaScript’s some() and every() methods.

array_any() returns true if at least one element in the array satisfies the callback condition:

$ages = [25, 31, 42, 17, 28];

$hasMinor = array_any($ages, function(int $age) {
    return $age < 18;
});

var_dump($hasMinor); // bool(true)

array_all() returns true only if all elements in the array meet the condition:

$ages = [25, 31, 42, 17, 28];

$hasMinor = array_all($ages, function(int $age) {
    return $age < 18;
});

var_dump($hasMinor); // bool(false)

If you find yourself writing a lot of foreach loops just to check if some or all items match a condition, these new functions will make your code much cleaner and easier to reason about.