Creating a Query String from an Array in PHP

The PHP framework provides a versatile function specifically designed for building query strings from arrays: http_build_query(). This function's primary purpose is to convert an array of key-value pairs into a standard URL-encoded query string.

Using http_build_query()

The syntax of http_build_query() is as follows:

string http_build_query(array $query_data, string $encoding_type = "application/x-www-form-urlencoded", array $options = [])

Where:

• $query_data: An array containing the key-value pairs to be converted into a query string.
• $encoding_type: (Optional) The encoding type to use. Defaults to "application/x-www-form-urlencoded".
• $options: (Optional) An array of additional options. Currently, only the "arg_separator" option is supported, which allows you to specify the separator between key-value pairs.

Example:

$params = array(
    'name' => 'John Doe',
    'age' => 30
);

$query_string = http_build_query($params);

echo $query_string; // Outputs: name=John Doe&age=30

Intuition behind the Function's Name

The name "http_build_query()" might not seem intuitive initially. However, it adheres to PHP's naming conventions for HTTP-related functions. The "http_" prefix indicates that the function is HTTP-specific, while "build_query" accurately describes its purpose of constructing a query string.