Question

how can I get a object from an array when this array is returned by a function?

class Item {
    private $contents = array('id' => 1);

    public function getContents() {
        return $contents;
    }
}

$i = new Item();
$id = $i->getContents()['id']; // This is not valid?

//I know this is possible, but I was looking for a 1 line method..
$contents = $i->getContents();
$id = $contents['id'];

Answer 1

You should use the 2-line version. Unless you have a compelling reason to squash your code down, there’s no reason not to have this intermediate value.

However, you could try something like

$id = array_pop($i->getContents())