What $data[] stands for

Hi,

I'm trying to learn more advanced PHP with Code Igniter and i'm starting from the Tutorial in Docs.

There in the News model i have:

Code:

$data['news'] = $this->news_model->get_news();

And in the view i have a foreach:

Code:

<?php foreach ($news as $news_item): ?>

Can i assume that $data['news'] is the same as $news?