Define array index after function call

Question

In other languages such as C# and JavaScript, I am able to access the index of an array with a function call such as

getMyArray()[0] 

This would allow me to access the first index of the result instead of passing back the entire array and then setting the result.

However this shortcut does not work with PHP. Is there a way to get this shortcut?

Answer 1

// PHP 5.4
$item = getMyArray()[0];

// Older than 5.4: (not recommended)
list($a)   = getMyArray();  // getMyArray()[0]
list(, $b) = getMyArray();  // getMyArray()[1]

Answer 2

You need to be running PHP 5.4 in order to use array de-referencing.