Re: [RFC] [DISCUSSION] array_part()

First, I'd like to announce the native implementation is available on github: https://github.com/cataphract/php-src/compare/array_part Please review this feature BEFORE voting starts. Unless something comes up that has to be dealt with until then, I want to start voting on Monday, 28th May. Now my answer to Richard: On Mon, 21 May 2012 21:30:24 +0200, Richard Lynch <ceo@l-i-e.com> wrote:

On Mon, May 14, 2012 9:03 am, Gustavo Lopes wrote:

* array_slice() can preserve keys, array_part() cannot because when collapsing levels this would mean the possibility of overwriting elements.

A predictable LIFO or FIFO for any collapsed keys would be reasonable, and probably not much more work to implement. By LIFO I mean that the last value to be put under a key would "win" I think that would be the most natural.

Such a behavior would be possible and would not be difficult to implement. However, it raises questions that are not easy to answer like: - should it keep the first or the last keys? Or perhaps it could instead collect all the elements under a new array. - should the behavior for numeric keys differ from that of string keys (perhaps in a array_merge way?) Since the path to add this behavior in the future is straightforward (add another optional argument, like in array_slice), not including it causes little damage in terms of future growth. On the other hand, my hope is that limiting the current design decisions to a easy subset may allow this to be merged rapidly. -- Gustavo Lopes