Mysqli_fetch_assoc vs Mysqli_fetch_array [With Example]

mysqli_fetch_assoc() and mysqli_fetch_array() both are used to print result data of SQL query in PHP. Mysqli_fetch_assoc vs Mysqli_fetch_array has just a single difference in accessing resultant data.

Difference between mysqli_fetch_assoc() and mysqli_fetch_array()

The major difference between mysqli_fetch_assoc and mysqli_fetch_array is the output format of result data.

mysqli_fetch_assoc returns data in an associative array and mysqli_fetch_array returns data in a numeric array and/or in an associative array.

Mysqli_fetch_assoc()

mysqli_fetch_assoc returns data in an associative array with a column name as a key of the resultant array.  Which means we can access the output array with a column name as a key of an array.

Example

<?php

    //  mysql connection variable
    $conn = mysqli_connect("localhost","user_name","password","database_name") or die("Mysqli Connection Error");
    
    // mysql query string
    $sql_query="SELECT * FROM employees";
    
    // mysql output variable
    $result=mysqli_query($conn,$sql_query);
    
    // fetch data as an associative array
    $row=mysqli_fetch_assoc($result);
    
    // print row data
    echo $row["id"]." ".$row["name"];

    mysqli_close($conn);
?>

Mysqli_fetch_array()

mysqli_fetch_array returns data in a numeric and an associative array, so we can access result data with a column name or an index value.

Example

<?php

    //  mysql connection variable
    $conn = mysqli_connect("localhost","user_name","password","database_name") or die("Mysqli Connection Error");     

    // mysql query string
    $sql_query="SELECT * FROM clg";
    
    // mysql output variable
    $result=mysqli_query($conn,$sql_query);

    // fetch data as an associative and a numeric array     
    $row=mysqli_fetch_array($result);
    
    // print row data with key
    echo $row["id"]." ".$row["name"];

    // print row data with index
    echo $row[0]." ".$row[1];  

    mysqli_close($conn);
?>

Read Also: MySQL Interview Questions and Answers

Conclusion

Now we finally know the main difference between mysqli_fetch_array and mysqli_fetch_assoc. We can use both methods to access output data according to our requirements.

Enjoy Programming 🙂