PHP eval(array_as_string) returns null

Question

$arr = eval(\"array(\'foo\'=>\'bar\');\");

// returns null
var_dump($arr);

Can someone please explain why did I get null instead of an array?

Answer 1

First of all, eval is highly discouraged as explained in the manual.

Also, you should be doing something like $arr = eval("return array('foo'=>'bar');"); ie. initialising $arr with the eval function. See it in action here