count works exactly as you would expect, e.g., it counts all the elements in an array (or object). But your assumption about the array containing four elements is wrong:

• "1" is equal to 1, so 1 => "B" will overwrite "1" => "A".
• because you defined 1, the next numeric index will be 2, e.g. "C" is 2 => "C"
• when you assigned 2 => "D" you overwrote "C".

So your array will only contain 1 => "B" and 2 => "D" and that's why count gives 2. You can verify this is true by doing print_r($a). This will give

Array
(
    [1] => B
    [2] => D
)

Please go through Arrays again.

$count = 0;
foreach ($array as $key=>$value) {
    if ($value ['item'] == 'Banana Cream Cheesecake') {
        $count++;
    }
}
echo $count;

Combination of array_count_values & array_column (PHP 5 >= 5.5.0, PHP 7) should work -

$counts = array_count_values(
    array_column($employees, 'position')
);

Output

array(3) {
  [1]=>
  int(1)
  [2]=>
  int(2)
  [3]=>
  int(2)
}

Update

$final = array_filter($counts, function($a) {
   return $a >= 2;
});

Output

array(2) {
  [2]=>
  int(2)
  [3]=>
  int(2)
}

Demo

you can use array_filter function to filter item which IsRatingQuestion=1

$filterdArray = array_filter($rec,function($item){
    if($item['IsRatingQuestion']==1){
        return $item;
    }
});
count($filterdArray)

You could use array_map to convert the array first.

$result = array_count_values(array_map(function ($var) {
  return $var['date'];
}, $refs));

For php < 5.3:

$dates = array();

foreach ($refs as $ref) {
  $dates[] = $ref['date'];
}

$result = array_count_values($dates);

You could also not use array_count_values and do the counting in the loop directly.

Try array_sum(array_column($input, 'amount'));

array_column will return the values of amount key & array_sum calculate the sum of values in the returned array

You can use:

count($array, COUNT_RECURSIVE);

Count number of leaves in nested array tree

Update #2. Lots of information, let me know if I lose you.

I made a couple tiny mistakes (needed to pass $current + 1 instead of $current++, and $levels[$current]++ was in the wrong place) in the last code. I tested this update with your example data; it will work for you. Basically, calc() is a recursive function that goes through every level of the array, counting each index that is an array, and adds that count to the master "counting" array ($levels). You can stick this right into your class, as I did below.

It doesn't return anything on purpose. $levels is passed by reference, and the count of each level is updated directly on it. So the first variable you pass to calc() will be turned into an array, like the one you're looking for in your question.

If your class script looks exactly like that, you should be getting errors. After class someName {, you should only be defining functions and variables. Code that actually performs an action, such as using echo or setting $test = new Test();, needs to be placed after the class definition.

With that said, if you want to execute some code every time you initiate this class, you should put this code in the class's constructor.

Below is what I think you want your class to look like. If you want $data to be in the class, declare the variable with var $data and fill it inside the constructor. If you're confused, let me know and I can update my answer again.

// Your class
class Test
{
    // Counts the number of arrays in each level of $data
    function calc(&$levels, $current, $parent)
    {
        if (!isset($levels[$current])) {
            $levels[$current] = 0;
        }
        foreach($parent as $child) {
            $levels[$current]++;
            if (is_array($child)) {
                $this->calc($levels, $current + 1, $child);
            }
        }
    }
}

// Let's use the class! Create an instance of it
$test = new Test();

// Fill the data array
$data = array();
$data['food']['soup']['chicken_noodle'] = '';
$data['food']['soup']['tomato'] = '';
$data['food']['soup']['french onion'] = '';
$data['food']['salad']['house'] = '';
$data['food']['salad']['ceasar'] = '';
$data['drink']['soda']['coke'] = '';
$data['drink']['soda']['sprite'] = '';
$data['drink']['soda']['dr pepper'] = '';
$data['drink']['alcoholic']['whiskey']['Jim Beam'] = '';
$data['drink']['alcoholic']['whiskey']['Jameson'] = '';
$data['drink']['alcoholic']['whiskey']['Bushmills'] = '';
$data['drink']['alcoholic']['vodka']['Stolichnaya'] = '';
$data['drink']['alcoholic']['vodka']['Ketel One'] = '';
$data['drink']['alcoholic']['vodka']['Grey Goose'] = '';
$data['drink']['alcoholic']['vodka']['Belvedere'] = '';
$data['drink']['alcoholic']['rum']['Captain Morgan'] = '';
$data['drink']['alcoholic']['rum']['Bacardi'] = '';    

// Count the data for arrays on each level
$count = array();
$test->calc($count, 0, $data);

// Print the results
echo '<pre>';
print_r($count);
exit ('</pre>');