Welcome to our data structures revision! Today, we will delve deeply into PHP Associative Arrays. Much like a bookshelf, associative arrays allow you to quickly select the book (value) you desire by reading its label (key). They are vital to PHP for efficiently accessing values using keys, as well as for dynamically inserting and modifying entries. So, let's explore PHP associative arrays for a clearer understanding of these concepts.

PHP associative array is a pivotal data structure that holds data as key-value pairs. Imagine storing your friend's contact info in such a way that allows you to search for your friend's name (the key) and instantly find their phone number (the value).

To define an associative array in PHP, you use the array construct or short array syntax []. For example, $contacts = ['Alice' => '123-456-7890', 'Bob' => '234-567-8901']; defines an associative array where both keys and values are strings. This array, $contacts, can store names and their corresponding phone numbers.