Rewind the internal array pointer

# prev

(PHP 4, PHP 5, PHP 7, PHP 8)

prev — Rewind the internal array pointer

### Description

prev(array|object `&$array`): mixed

Rewind the internal array pointer.

prev() behaves just like next(), except it rewinds the internal array pointer one place instead of advancing it.

### Parameters

`array`

  The input array.

### Return Values

Returns the array value in the previous place that's pointed to by the internal array pointer, or `false` if there are no more elements.

Warning

This function may return Boolean `false`, but may also return a non-Boolean value which evaluates to `false`. Please read the section on Booleans for more information. Use the === operator for testing the return value of this function.

### Changelog

Version | Description
--- | ---
8.1.0 | Calling this function on objects is deprecated. Either convert the object to an array using get_mangled_object_vars() first, or use the methods provided by a class that implements Iterator, such as ArrayIterator, instead.
7.4.0 | Instances of SPL classes are now treated like empty objects that have no properties instead of calling the Iterator method with the same name as this function.

### Examples

Example #1 Example use of prev() and friends

`<?php
$transport = array('foot', 'bike', 'car', 'plane');
echo $mode = current($transport), PHP_EOL; // $mode = 'foot';
echo $mode = next($transport), PHP_EOL; // $mode = 'bike';
echo $mode = next($transport), PHP_EOL; // $mode = 'car';
echo $mode = prev($transport), PHP_EOL; // $mode = 'bike';
echo $mode = end($transport), PHP_EOL; // $mode = 'plane';
?>`

### Notes

> Note: The beginning of an array is indistinguishable from a bool `false` element. To make the distinction, check that the key() of the prev() element is not `null`.

### See Also

- current() - Return the current element in an array
- end() - Set the internal pointer of an array to its last element
- next() - Advance the internal pointer of an array
- reset() - Set the internal pointer of an array to its first element
- each() - Return the current key and value pair from an array and advance the array cursor

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