Question

Is this possible to merge multiple arrays in this way instead of array_merge function?

$defaults = array('a'=>'b');
$defaults .= array('c'=>'d');
print_r($defaults);?>

Answer 1

Almost, you need the + operator instead:

$defaults = array('a'=>'b');
$defaults += array('c'=>'d');
print_r($defaults);

Be aware, though, that it has a slightly different mode than array_merge, i.e. it does not override already defined keys/indexes.