Re: [RFC] [DISCUSSION] array_part()

On Mon, 14 May 2012 15:41:25 +0200, Paul Dragoonis <dragoonis@gmail.com> wrote:

Gustavo, why would I use array_part() if I could use array_slice() to get the parts of an array between two offsets.

Obviously, if you want to do something that array_slice() already does, then you wouldn't have a lot of pressing reasons to use this instead. But this is not a very interesting question. On the other hand, if you're asking what are differences between this and array_slice(), then: * array_slice() only does slicing at the level 1 (it has no multidimensional slicing that would allow doing something like array_column(), see https://github.com/php/php-src/pull/56 ) * array_slice() only operates in an 'index-as-offset' mode, which is less efficient than 'index-as-key'. array_part() allows you to choose: $arr = [-1 => 'a', 0 => 'b']; array_slice($arr, 0, 1) // 'a' array_slice($arr, -1, 1) // 'b' array_part($arr, [0]) // 'a' array_part($arr, [-1]) // 'b' array_part($arr, [-1], true) // 'a' * array_slice() has side-effects; it resets the internal array pointer. * array_slice() can preserve keys, array_part() cannot because when collapsing levels this would mean the possibility of overwriting elements. I'll improve the RFC with inline examples and this information later. -- Gustavo Lopes