The speed of variables vs arrays in php

Question

I have abit of a silly question. I was just wondering. Whilst coding im sometimes tend to, if I have lot of variables that relate to a specific entity, create an associative array using key value pairs to define these entities.

What Id like to know is, Im aware that they all get saved in memory but which method is smaller/faster, creating a few variables or creating an array with keys and values of the variables

Below are some examples:

$apples  = 'apples'; 
$grapes  = 'some grapes';
$bananas = 'lots of bananas';

$fruits = ['apples' => 'apples', 'grapes' => 'some grapes', 'bananas' => 'lots of bananas'];

What I'll be using this for is looping over entries from the database and defining values to populate in my markup.

The difference in speed or memory consumption is irrelevant, don't worry about it. Worry about requests to remote servers, database queries, file-system access. — axiac
– axiac, Commented Feb 17, 2018 at 6:57
Thanks for the speedy response, ill update my question quick — undefined
– undefined, Commented Feb 17, 2018 at 6:59
If you have related values to store, an array probably makes good sense. If you want to iterate the values, then an array is the way. — mickmackusa
– mickmackusa ♦, Commented Feb 17, 2018 at 7:07

mickmackusa · Accepted Answer · 2018-02-17 07:16:43Z

3

Speed and memory are likely to be irrelevant. Write clean, direct code.

If you are going to be iterating or searching these values, use an array.

As a fundamental rule, I don't declare single-use variables. Only in fringe cases where readability is dramatically improved do I break this rule.

edited Feb 17, 2018 at 7:16

answered Feb 17, 2018 at 7:09

mickmackusa♦

49.2k13 gold badges98 silver badges165 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

3 Comments

undefined Over a year ago

These values are populated inside of the loop though, is that that a good fit for the array rather than a variable?

mickmackusa Over a year ago

I say yes. Using arrays is going to result in more concise, easier to read, and easier to maintain code. This I say generally. I'd have to see actual code to confirm. Another point is: don't declare single-use variables.

undefined Over a year ago

Thanks @mickmackusa much appreciated!

phpforcoders · Accepted Answer · 2018-02-17 07:06:00Z

2

Lets Try

Test 1

With 6 PHP variables

$makevar1 = 'checkspeed';
$makevar2 = 'checkspeed';
$makevar3 = 'checkspeed';
$makevar4 = 'checkspeed';
$makevar5 = 'checkspeed';
$makevar6 = 'checkspeed';

print_r(memory_get_usage());

Result is 458056

Test 2

With 6 array keys

$makevar = array();
$makevar['var1'] = 'checkspeed';
$makevar['var2'] = 'checkspeed';
$makevar['var3'] = 'checkspeed';
$makevar['var4'] = 'checkspeed';
$makevar['var5'] = 'checkspeed';
$makevar['var6'] = 'checkspeed';

print_r(memory_get_usage());

Result is 459168

Final Result: Accessing a variable is faster than array.

answered Feb 17, 2018 at 7:06

phpforcoders

3261 silver badge9 bronze badges

1 Comment

undefined Over a year ago

Thanks for the reply. Technically your test shows that variables result in less memory usage rather than speed of use.

Nathan Barteaux · Accepted Answer · 2018-02-17 07:08:41Z

1

Using the array in PHP could possibly be slower than variables. However, it's not worth looking into. Focus on readability instead.

answered Feb 17, 2018 at 7:08

Nathan Barteaux

116 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

The speed of variables vs arrays in php

3 Answers 3

3 Comments

1 Comment

Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

3 Answers 3

3 Comments

1 Comment

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related