$ages = array("Peter"=>32, "Quagmire"=>30, "Joe"=>34);

$ages['Peter'] = "32";
$ages['Quagmire'] = "30";
$ages['Joe'] = "34";

<?php
   $ages['Peter'] = "32";
   $ages['Quagmire'] = "30";
   $ages['Joe'] = "34";
   echo "Peter is " . $ages['Peter'] . " years old.";
?>

Connected to Oracle Database 10g Express Edition Release 10.2.0.1.0
Connected as hr

SQL>
SQL> DECLARE
  2    TYPE BIRTHDAYS_TYPE IS TABLE OF VARCHAR2(12) INDEX BY VARCHAR2(32);
  3    birthdays BIRTHDAYS_TYPE;
  4  BEGIN
  5    birthdays('alice') := '1999';
  6    dbms_output.put_line('Birthday of alice is ' || birthdays('alice'));
  7  END;
  8  /

Birthday of alice is 1999

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed

SQL>