Return first key of associative array in PHP

Question

I\'m trying to obtain the first key of an associative array, without creating a temporary variable via array_keys() or the like, to pass by reference. Unfortuna

Answer 1

Although array_shift(array_keys($array)); will work, current(array_keys($array)); is faster as it doesn't advance the internal pointer.

Either one will work though.

Update

As @TomcatExodus noted, array_shift(); expects an array passed by reference, so the first example will issue an error. Best to stick with current();