Imploding Arrays with Quotes in PHP

In PHP, the implode() function is used to concatenate array elements into a string, separated by a specified delimiter. When working with arrays that represent data in a specific format, such as comma-separated values (CSV), it becomes necessary to enclose the elements in quotes.

Original Approach

The provided code snippet demonstrates the basic usage of implode() to create a comma-separated string:

$array = array('lastname', 'email', 'phone');
$comma_separated = implode(",", $array);

However, to enclose the elements in quotes, a workaround is needed:

$array = array('lastname', 'email', 'phone');
$comma_separated = implode("','", $array);
$comma_separated = "'".$comma_separated."'";

This approach first implodes the array using a single quote as the delimiter, resulting in lastname','email','phone. Then, it encloses the entire string in double quotes to create the desired CSV format: 'lastname','email','phone'.

Optimized Solution

Instead of using multiple lines of code, the following solution provides a cleaner and more efficient way to implode an array with quotes:

$array = array('lastname', 'email', 'phone');

echo "'" . implode("','", $array) . "'";

This condensed approach combines the implode() and echo() functions into a single line. The implode() function is used to concatenate the array elements with a single quote as the delimiter, and the result is enclosed in double quotes using the echo() function. This effectively produces the desired CSV string in a single step.