PHP unable to manipulate array as array (implode, echo key), array-to-string conversion

Question

I have an array that by all rights appears to be, well, an array:

var_dump($arr);

Gives this:

array(3) {
  ["query"]=>
  string(47) "select * from `sessions` where `id` = ? limit 1"
  ["bindings"]=>
  array(1) {
    [0]=>
    string(40) "beec3e058d85062452f025e1f2156f2fefdf87ea"
  }
  ["time"]=>
  float(0.94)
}   

but, I cannot manipulate it as an array.

echo implode("\n", $arr);

Produces a stack trace and 'Array to String Conversion' error in my Laravel app. What is the problem, and how can I make it so this "array" will accept operations like implode or echo $arr['query']?

Answer 1

You can't do implode with this particular array, because it has an array among its values. Should you have an array containing only scalar values, you'd be ok.

$arr ['query'] works since it is a string, there is no conversion needed.

I assume you want a string representation of an array. Why don't you just use:

var_export($arr, true) ?