which is best array_search or in_array?

Question

I have a large while loop function, every time it gets loaded for check with current URL name. So I need to know which one is better to check the UR

Answer 1

There's no real answer here. So I tried it, myself.

$haystack = array
(
    'apple',
    'banana',
    'cherry',
    'lemon',
    'lime',
    'orange',
    'potato',
    'rutabaga'
);
$haySize = count($haystack);

$loops = isset( $_SERVER['argv'][1] ) ? $_SERVER['argv'][1] : 10000;
// echo 'Loops: ' . $loops . "\n";

$start = microtime(true);
for ($i = 0; $i < $loops; $i++)
{
    $needle = $haystack[ $i % $haySize ];
}
$zeroTime = microtime(true) - $start;
// echo sprintf('%0.3f', $zeroTime * 1000) . ' ms : zero time' . "\n";

$start = microtime(true);
for ($i = 0; $i < $loops; $i++)
{
    $needle = $haystack[ $i % $haySize ];
    $dummy = array_search($needle, $haystack);
}
echo sprintf('%0.3f', (microtime(true) - $start - $zeroTime) * 1000) . ' ms : array_search' . "\n";

$start = microtime(true);
for ($i = 0; $i < $loops; $i++)
{
    $needle = $haystack[ $i % $haySize ];
    $dummy = in_array($needle, $haystack);
}
echo sprintf('%0.3f', (microtime(true) - $start - $zeroTime) * 1000) . ' ms : in_array' . "\n";
    echo sprintf('%0.3f', (microtime(true) - $start) * 1000).' ms : in_array'."\n";

For a typical use case, in_array wins, but the difference is negligible:

22.662 ms : array_search
22.104 ms : in_array

Updated 2014-01-02: added noop loop to "zero the scale". Running PHP 5.4.17 on a new MacBook pro, this is a typical result:

24.462 ms : array_search
24.984 ms : in_array