A few new array functions are making their way into PHP 8.4
PHP 8.4 is still under development and has a bunch of new features and improvements under its belt so far. New features keep on appearing and one of them recently surfaced is the addition of new array methods.
There’s this RFC (still under voting phase) which proposes to add these new methods which are essentially related to checking an array for the existence of elements matching a specific condition.
The new methods are:
array_findarray_find_keyarray_anyarray_all
Let’s take a look at each of them.
- The
array_findmethod - The
array_find_keymethod - The
array_anymethod - The
array_allmethod - In closing
The array_find method
The array_find returns the value of the first element for which the $callback returns true. If no matching element is found the function returns NULL.
array_find(array $array, callable $callback)
Here’s an example.
$fruits = [
'apple' => 'red',
'banana' => 'yellow',
'orange' => 'orange',
];
var_dump(array_find($fruits, function ($fruit) {
return str_starts_with($fruit, 'y')
}));
// Output: string(5) "yellow"
var_dump(array_find($fruits, function ($fruit) {
return str_starts_with($fruit, 'z')
}));
// Output: NULL
The array_find_key method
The array_find_key returns the key of the first element for which the $callback returns true.
array_find_key(array $array, callable $callback)
Here’s an example.
$fruits = [
'apple' => 'red',
'banana' => 'yellow',
'orange' => 'orange',
];
var_dump(array_find_key($fruits, function ($fruit) {
return str_starts_with($fruit, 'y')
}));
// Output: string(5) "banana"
var_dump(array_find_key($fruits, function ($fruit) {
return str_starts_with($fruit, 'z')
}));
// Output: NULL
The array_any method
The array_any method returns true if any of the elements in the array pass the $callback test. Otherwise, it returns false.
array_any(array $array, callable $callback)
This method resembles the Array.prototype.some() method in JavaScript.
Here’s an example.
$fruits = [
'apple' => 'red',
'banana' => 'yellow',
'orange' => 'orange',
];
var_dump(array_any($fruits, function ($fruit) {
return str_starts_with($fruit, 'y')
}));
// Output: true
var_dump(array_any($fruits, function ($fruit) {
return str_starts_with($fruit, 'z')
}));
// Output: false
The array_all method
The array_all method returns true if all of the elements in the array pass the $callback test. Otherwise, it returns false.
array_all(array $array, callable $callback)
Here’s an example.
$fruits = [
'apple' => 'red',
'banana' => 'yellow',
'orange' => 'orange',
];
var_dump(array_all($fruits, function ($fruit) {
return strlen($fruit) > 2
}));
// Output: true
var_dump(array_all($fruits, function ($fruit) {
return str_starts_with($fruit, 'z')
}));
// Output: false
In closing
While the RFC is still in voting phase, I believe these methods will end up being part of PHP 8.4 looking at the voting trends since most of the votes are in favor of adding these methods at this point.
These array methods are truly nice to have and let us write more concise and readable code.
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