Conditional Array Element Addition

In PHP, the task of conditionally adding an element to an associative array can be a challenge. For instance, consider the following array:

$arr = ['a' => 'abc'];

How can we conditionally add 'b' => 'xyz' to this array using the array() statement? The ternary operator is not a viable option in this case.

PHP 8.1 Solution

One approach available in PHP 8.1 and higher involves using array unpacking:

$arr = [
    'foo' => 'bar',
    ...($condition ? ['baz' => 'boo'] : []),
];

In this code:

• The ... operator is used for array unpacking.
• The ternary operator ($condition ? ['baz' => 'boo'] : []) conditionally returns an array with 'baz' => 'boo' if $condition is true; otherwise, it returns an empty array.
• The unpacking operator then merges the result of the ternary operator with the existing array.

This syntax allows for a concise and elegant way to conditionally add elements to an array.