Get the first element of an array in PHP?

Question

I have an array: `array( 4 => 'apple', 7 => 'orange', 13 => 'plum' )` I would like to get the first element of this array. Expected result: <i>string</i> `apple` One requirement: *it cannot be done with passing by reference*, so `array_shift` is not a good solution. How can I do this?

Answer 1

is your array sorted by its numeric key?

<?php

$a = array( 4 => 'apple', 7 => 'orange', 13 => 'plum' );

echo $a[min(array_keys($a))];

echo array_pop(array_reverse($a));

$b = array_values($a);

echo $b[0];

will give you THREE apples.