What is the difference between using var_export() and print_r() to format an array in PHP?

The main difference between using var_export() and print_r() to format an array in PHP is that var_export() returns a parsable string representation of the variable, including its type information, while print_r() simply outputs the array in a human-readable format. If you need a string representation of the array that can be used to recreate the array, var_export() is the better choice. If you just need to quickly view the contents of an array, print_r() is more suitable. 

// Using var_export() to format an array
$array = [1, 2, 3, 'a' => 'apple', 'b' => 'banana'];
echo var_export($array, true);

// Using print_r() to format an array
$array = [1, 2, 3, 'a' => 'apple', 'b' => 'banana'];
print_r($array);

Keywords

var_export print_r array format difference

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