php array function without a right operator assignment?

Question

I saw this in a php script about reading a csv file:

 array($mydata);

What does it make? An array from $mydata?

Answer 1

Yes, it creates an array where $mydata is the first element. You can even put many elements in there at once:

php > $x = array(1,2,3);
php > var_dump($x);
array(3) {
  [0]=>
  int(1)
  [1]=>
  int(2)
  [2]=>
  int(3)
}

However, if that was all that happened on that line, I'd say nothing happens at all. array() behaves like a function that returns a new array, if it wasn't assigned to anything it was simply discarded and nothing happened. Example:

php > $y = 'foo';
php > array($y);
php > var_dump($y);
string(3) "foo"