首先使用foreach循环生成表格行，通过遍历二维数组并手动构建HTML标签来显示数据；接着检测数组类型以动态生成表头，提升函数灵活性；最后将逻辑封装为可复用函数arrayToHtmlTable，支持安全输出。
If you want to display PHP array data in a structured format on a web page, converting the array into an HTML table is a practical solution.
The operating environment of this tutorial: MacBook Pro, macOS Sonoma
1. Use a Simple foreach Loop to Generate Table Rows
This method involves iterating over a two-dimensional PHP array using a foreach loop and manually constructing HTML table rows and cells. It gives full control over the output structure and is ideal for small datasets or custom formatting needs.
- Start by defining a PHP array containing the data, such as an array of associative arrays where each represents a row.
- Begin the HTML table with
tag and define the header using
elements based on the keys of the first row. - Loop through each element in the array and output a
for every sub-array, then use another loop to generate cells for each value. 2. Build the Table Using Indexed or Associative Array Detection
To make the function more flexible, detect whether the input array is indexed or associative. This allows automatic extraction of column headers from key names in associative arrays, improving reusability across different data types.
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- Check if the first element of the array is an array itself using is_array() and determine its type with array_keys().
- If the keys are strings, treat them as column headers and extract them via array_keys() of the first item.
- Ensure that all rows have consistent keys to prevent missing cells or undefined index warnings.
- Output the header row dynamically before looping through the data rows.
3. Create a Reusable Function for Converting Arrays to Tables
Encapsulating the logic into a dedicated function improves code maintainability and enables reuse across multiple scripts or projects. The function can accept any two-dimensional array and return a valid HTML table string.
- Define a function like arrayToHtmlTable($data) that takes one parameter: the array to convert.
- Inside the function, initialize an empty string and concatenate HTML tags and content based on the array structure.
- Always sanitize output using htmlspecialchars() to prevent XSS when displaying user-generated data.
- Return the complete HTML table string so it can be echoed safely within a webpage context.
- Loop through each element in the array and output a
