Alternative for define array php

From php.net...

The value of the constant; only scalar and null values are allowed. Scalar values are integer, float, string or boolean values. It is possible to define resource constants, however it is not recommended and may cause unpredictable behavior.

But You can do with some tricks :

define('names', serialize(array('John', 'James' ...)));

& You have to use unserialize() the constant value (names) when used. This isn't really that useful & so just define multiple constants instead:

define('NAME1', 'John');
define('NAME2', 'James');
..

And print like this:

echo constant('NAME'.$digit);

This has changed in newer versions of PHP, as stated in the PHP manual

From PHP 5.6 onwards, it is possible to define a constant as a scalar expression, and it is also possible to define an array constant.