<?php $input = explode(',', file_get_contents('input.txt')); // don't forget : 12 @ position 1 && 2 @ position 2 $i = 0; while($input[$i] !== 99) { [$operation, $first, $second, $position] = array_slice($input, $i, 4); switch ($operation) { case 1: $input[$position] = $input[$first] + $input[$second]; break; case 2: $input[$position] = $input[$first] * $input[$second]; break; case 99: echo $input[0]; exit; default: echo 'unknown operation : '.$operation; exit; } $i += 4; } echo $input[0];