For example:
$names = {[bob:27, billy:43, sam:76]};
and then be able to reference it like this:
$names[bob]
http://php.net/manual/en/language.types.array.php
<?php
$array = array(
"foo" => "bar",
"bar" => "foo",
);
// as of PHP 5.4
$array = [
"foo" => "bar",
"bar" => "foo",
];
?>
Standard arrays can be used that way.