3 ways to render inline lists in PHP

Given a list of items and a separator, render it in a single line, with separators between.

$items = [
    "apples",
    "oranges",
    "bananas"
];

$separator = " / ";

#Method 1: Basic foreach

This approach is the one that comes to mind first, but it is incorrect because it will emit an additional separator after the last element.

foreach ($items as $value) {
    echo $value . $separator;
}

Output:

apples / oranges / bananas /

#Method 2: Using implode()

Cleaner and shorter, this usage is appropriate for most applications:

echo implode($separator, $items);

Output:

apples / oranges / bananas

While the implode() method is great for most purposes, it does break down when there is heavy templating involved.

#Method 3: Using foreach and

When heavier templating functionality is required, it’s best to use

foreach ($items as $key => $value) {
    echo $value;

    if ($key !== array_key_last($items)) {
        echo $separator;
    }
}

The third method has the same output as the second one, but gives you more flexibility in how you might organize your templates.