What are the differences between indexed and associative arrays in PHP, and how can they impact sorting operations?

Indexed arrays in PHP use numerical keys starting from 0, while associative arrays use named keys. When sorting indexed arrays, PHP's built-in sorting functions like `sort()` or `rsort()` can be used directly. However, when sorting associative arrays, custom sorting functions or methods like `uasort()` or `uksort()` are needed to maintain the key-value associations during sorting. 

// Indexed array sorting
$indexedArray = [3, 1, 2];
sort($indexedArray);
print_r($indexedArray);

// Associative array sorting
$associativeArray = ['b' => 2, 'a' => 1, 'c' => 3];
uasort($associativeArray, function($a, $b) {
    return $a - $b;
});
print_r($associativeArray);

Keywords

indexed arrays associative arrays sorting operations PHP differences

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