PHP Objects vs Arrays — Performance comparison while iterating

Question

I have a huge amount of PHP objects for a neural network for which I have to iterate over and perform some maths on. I was wondering if I would be better off using an associ

Answer 1

I use magallanes' code under php 7.0.9 :

arrays: 0.19802498817444

memory: 324672

Array
(
    [aaa] => aaa
    [bbb] => bbb
    [ccc] => aaabbb
)
arrays: 0.18602299690247

memory: 132376

SomeClass Object
(
    [aaa] => aaa
    [bbb] => bbb
    [ccc] => aaabbb
)
arrays: 0.1950249671936

memory: 348296

stdClass Object
(
    [aaa] => aaa
    [bbb] => bbb
    [ccc] => aaabbb
)

And user php 7.1.3:

arrays: 0.59932994842529
memory: 444920
Array
(
    [aaa] => aaa
    [bbb] => bbb
    [ccc] => aaabbb
)

arrays: 0.72895789146423
memory: 164512

SomeClass Object
(
    [aaa] => aaa
    [bbb] => bbb
    [ccc] => aaabbb
)

arrays: 0.61777496337891
memory: 484416
stdClass Object
(
    [aaa] => aaa
    [bbb] => bbb
    [ccc] => aaabbb
)                      

Answer 2

magallanes' script @ PHP 7.3.5

• SomeClass Object is fastest and lightest.
• Array 1.32x speed. 2.70x memory.
• stdClass Object 1.65x speed. 2.94x memory.

Raw output:

arrays: 0.064794063568115
memory: 444920
Array (
    [aaa] => aaa
    [bbb] => bbb
    [ccc] => aaabbb
)
arrays: 0.048975944519043
memory: 164512
SomeClass Object (
    [aaa] => aaa
    [bbb] => bbb
    [ccc] => aaabbb
)
arrays: 0.081161022186279
memory: 484416
stdClass Object (
    [aaa] => aaa
    [bbb] => bbb
    [ccc] => aaabbb
)

Answer 3

Based in the code of Quazzle, i ran the next code (5.4.16 windows 64bits):

<?php
class SomeClass {
    public $aaa;
    public $bbb;
    public $ccc;
    }

function p($i) {
  echo '<pre>';
  print_r($i);
  echo '</pre>';
}


$t0 = microtime(true);
$arraysOf=array();
$inicio=memory_get_usage(); 
for ($i=0; $i<1000; $i++) {
    $z = array();
    for ($j=0; $j<1000; $j++) {
        $z['aaa'] = 'aaa';
        $z['bbb'] = 'bbb';
        $z['ccc'] = $z['aaa'].$z['bbb'];            
    }
    $arraysOf[]=$z;
}
$fin=memory_get_usage();    
echo '<p>arrays: '.(microtime(true) - $t0)."</p>";
echo '<p>memory: '.($fin-$inicio)."</p>";
p($z);

$t0 = microtime(true);
$arraysOf=array();
$inicio=memory_get_usage(); 
for ($i=0; $i<1000; $i++) {
    $z = new SomeClass();
    for ($j=0; $j<1000; $j++) {
        $z->aaa = 'aaa';
        $z->bbb = 'bbb';
        $z->ccc = $z->aaa.$z->bbb;          
    }
    $arraysOf[]=$z;
}
$fin=memory_get_usage();    
echo '<p>arrays: '.(microtime(true) - $t0)."</p>";
echo '<p>memory: '.($fin-$inicio)."</p>";
p($z);

$t0 = microtime(true);
$arraysOf=array();
$inicio=memory_get_usage(); 
for ($i=0; $i<1000; $i++) {
    $z = new stdClass();
    for ($j=0; $j<1000; $j++) {
        $z->aaa = 'aaa';
        $z->bbb = 'bbb';
        $z->ccc = $z->aaa.$z->bbb;          
    }
    $arraysOf[]=$z;
}
$fin=memory_get_usage();    
echo '<p>arrays: '.(microtime(true) - $t0)."</p>";
echo '<p>memory: '.($fin-$inicio)."</p>";
p($z);  
?>

And i obtained the next result:

arrays: 1.8451430797577

memory: 460416

Array
(
    [aaa] => aaa
    [bbb] => bbb
    [ccc] => aaabbb
)

arrays: 1.8294548988342

memory: 275696

SomeClass Object
(
    [aaa] => aaa
    [bbb] => bbb
    [ccc] => aaabbb
)

arrays: 2.2577090263367

memory: 483648

stdClass Object
(
    [aaa] => aaa
    [bbb] => bbb
    [ccc] => aaabbb
)

Conclusion for php 5.4

1. Class is fasts than Arrays (but marginally).
2. stdClass is evil.
3. Class uses less memory than Arrays. (about 30-40% less!!)

ps: as a note, if the class is defined but the members then, the use of this class is slower. It also uses more memory. Apparently the secret is to define the members

Update

I updated from php 5.4 to php 5.5 (5.5.12 x86 windows).

arrays: 1.6465699672699

memory: 460400

Array
(
    [aaa] => aaa
    [bbb] => bbb
    [ccc] => aaabbb
)

arrays: 1.8687851428986

memory: 363704

SplFixedArray Object
(
    [0] => aaa
    [1] => bbb
    [2] => aaabbb
)

arrays: 1.8554251194

memory: 275568

SomeClass Object
(
    [aaa] => aaa
    [bbb] => bbb
    [ccc] => aaabbb
)

arrays: 2.0101680755615

memory: 483656

stdClass Object
(
    [aaa] => aaa
    [bbb] => bbb
    [ccc] => aaabbb
)

Conclusion for php 5.5

1. For arrays, PHP 5.5 is faster than PHP 5.4, for object it is pretty much the same
2. Class is slower than Arrays thanks to the optimization of PHP 5.5 and arrays.
3. stdClass is evil.
4. Class still uses less memory than Arrays. (about 30-40% less!!).
5. SplFixedArray is similar to use a Class but it uses more memory.

Answer 4

I see this is kind of an old post so I thought I'll update it. here are my codes and stats, done on Zend CE 5.3.21 I tried to test the whole thing, storing info and pulling it back.

V1 : takes 0.83 sec

for ($i=1; $i<1000000; $i++) {
  $a = get_one();
  $b = $a[0];
  $b = $a[1];
}

function get_one() {
  return array(1,1);
}

V2 : takes 3.05 sec

for ($i=1; $i<1000000; $i++) {
  $a = get_one();
  $b = $a->v;
  $b = $a->k;
}

function get_one() {
  $ret = new test();
  $ret->v = 1;
  $reb->k = 1;
  return $ret;
}

class test {
  public $v;
  public $k;
}

V3 : takes 1.98 sec (note that the constructor improves the performance)

for ($i=1; $i<1000000; $i++) {
  $a = get_one();
  $b = $a->v;
  $b = $a->k;
}

function get_one() {
  return new test(1,1);
}

class test {
  public $v;
  public $k;
  public function __construct($v, $k) {
    $this->v = $v;
    $this->k = $k;
  }
}