Why is it whenever I use scandir() I receive periods at the beginning of the array?

Question

Why is it whenever I use scandir() I receive periods at the beginning of the array?

Array
(
    [0] => .
    [1] => ..
    [2] => bar.php
    [3] =&         


        

Answer 1

In Unix convention . is a link to the current directory while .. is a link to the parent directory. Both of them exist as a file in the directory index.