The count() function in PHP is used to count all elements in an array or something in an object. It returns the number of elements in the array.

🔹 Syntax:

count(array, mode)

• array – Required. The array or object to count.
• mode – Optional. Can be set to:
  • COUNT_NORMAL (default) – Does not count elements in multidimensional arrays.
  • COUNT_RECURSIVE (or 1) – Counts all elements in the array recursively (useful for multidimensional arrays).

🔹 Example 1: Basic array count

$fruits = ["apple", "banana", "orange"];
echo count($fruits);  // Output: 3

🔹 Example 2: Associative array

$user = [
    "name" => "John",
    "email" => "john@example.com",
    "age" => 30
];
echo count($user);  // Output: 3

🔹 Example 3: Multidimensional array with normal count

$products = [
    ["name" => "Laptop", "price" => 500],
    ["name" => "Phone", "price" => 300]
];
echo count($products);  // Output: 2

🔹 Example 4: Multidimensional array with recursive count

$products = [
    ["name" => "Laptop", "price" => 500],
    ["name" => "Phone", "price" => 300]
];
echo count($products, COUNT_RECURSIVE);  // Output: 6

Explanation: There are 2 main elements, each with 2 sub-elements → 2 (outer) + 2*2 (inner) = 6.

🔹 Example 5: Count on empty array

$empty = [];
echo count($empty);  // Output: 0

🔹 Example 6: Count on a non-array

$str = "Hello";
echo count($str);  // Output: 1 (Not recommended)

🔸 count() can return 1 even for non-arrays. Safer to check is_array() before using count().

✅ Tips:

• Always ensure the variable is an array before using count():

if (is_array($myVar)) {
    echo count($myVar);
}