If you need the first or last entry of an array, then this could help you.

<?php
function array_last_entry($arr){
    if(!is_array($arr))
        return;
    
    if(empty($arr))
        return;
        
    return end($arr);
}

function array_first_entry($arr){
    if(!is_array($arr))
        return;
        
    if(empty($arr))
        return;
        
    reset($arr);
    return current($arr);    
}

$arr = array( '5' => 'five', '3' => 'three', '8' => 'eight',);

echo 'last entry: '.array_last_entry($arr).'<br>';

echo 'first entry: '.array_first_entry($arr).'<br>';

echo 'alternative output:<br>';
 
echo 'last entry: '.$arr[count($arr)-1];

echo '<br>first entry: '.$arr[0]; 
?>

The output will look like:
last entry: eight
first entry: five
alternative output:
last entry:
first entry: 

As you can see, if you have to handle arrays with non-continuous indexes, these functions may be very helpful.