Array arguments for str functions

3 months ago by Barel — view source — reply

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Hi all,

I would like to create an RFC proposal suggesting modifying the
str_contains, str_starts_with and str_ends_with functions so that they can
accept an array argument for the $needle parameter (apart from accepting a
string as they do now). If an array is passed and the $haystack string
contains, starts with or ends with any of the strings in the array then the
functions will return true, otherwise returns false.

I looked at the RFCs where these functions were added and at the related
internal discussions and could not find any discussion about this
possibility.
Before creating the RFC I would like to hear the thoughts of the group,
many thanks in advance

Cheers

Carlos

3 months ago by Derick Rethans — view source — reply

unread

Hi all,

I would like to create an RFC proposal suggesting modifying the
str_contains, str_starts_with and str_ends_with functions so that they can
accept an array argument for the $needle parameter (apart from accepting a
string as they do now). If an array is passed and the $haystack string
contains, starts with or ends with any of the strings in the array then the
functions will return true, otherwise returns false.

I looked at the RFCs where these functions were added and at the related
internal discussions and could not find any discussion about this
possibility.
Before creating the RFC I would like to hear the thoughts of the group,
many thanks in advance

Cheers

Carlos

The semantics for starts_with and ends_with are easy to argue they should mean any element, but for str_contains it could be useful to have either all, or any.

I'm therefore thinking it might be better to have separate functions to make this clear.

cheers
Derick

3 months ago by Barel — view source — reply

unread

Hi all,

I would like to create an RFC proposal suggesting modifying the
str_contains, str_starts_with and str_ends_with functions so that they can
accept an array argument for the $needle parameter (apart from accepting a
string as they do now). If an array is passed and the $haystack string
contains, starts with or ends with any of the strings in the array then
the
functions will return true, otherwise returns false.

I looked at the RFCs where these functions were added and at the related
internal discussions and could not find any discussion about this
possibility.
Before creating the RFC I would like to hear the thoughts of the group,
many thanks in advance

Cheers

Carlos

The semantics for starts_with and ends_with are easy to argue they should
mean any element, but for str_contains it could be useful to have either
all, or any.

I'm therefore thinking it might be better to have separate functions to
make this clear.

cheers
Derick

Thanks Derick,

While “contains all” semantics can be useful in some niche scenarios, I
believe they are much less frequent than the "contains any" semantics. And
“contains any” is the direct parallel to the proposed behavior for
str_starts_with() and str_ends_with(), keeping the mental model consistent
across all three functions. Would like to hear the thoughts of other people
about this issue

Cheers

Carlos

2 months ago by Morgan — view source — reply

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Hi all,

I would like to create an RFC proposal suggesting modifying the |
str_contains, |str_starts_with and str_ends_with functions so that they
can accept an array argument for the |$needle| parameter (apart from
accepting a string as they do now). If an array is passed and the |
$haystack| string contains, starts with or ends with any of the strings
in the array then the functions will return true, otherwise returns false.

I looked at the RFCs where these functions were added and at the related
internal discussions and could not find any discussion about this
possibility.
Before creating the RFC I would like to hear the thoughts of the group,
many thanks in advance

Cheers

Carlos

The functions were added after it was pointed out that userland
implementations tended to result in the information being derived
internally and then thrown away, requiring the user to reconstruct it;
it made sense to yield that internal information directly.

For this extension, I'm not sure what the advantages are over simple
function composition (array_any was introduced for exactly this sort of
job and is applicable to any function). Or disadvantages (e.g. more
complex function signature).

2 months ago by tim@bastelstu.be — view source — reply

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Am 2026-03-16 01:41, schrieb Morgan:

For this extension, I'm not sure what the advantages are over simple
function composition (array_any was introduced for exactly this sort of
job and is applicable to any function)

I agree. Especially since the Partial Function Application RFC was
accepted an ad-hoc implementation would just be:

 $str = 'bazinga';

 $strStartsWithAny = \array_any(['foo', 'bar', 'baz'],

\str_starts_with($str, ?));

I have also added an optimization to PHP 8.6 that compiles array_map()
into a foreach loop when the callback is first class callable or PFA:
https://github.com/php/php-src/pull/20934. I plan to extend this to the
other array_* functions once the PFA PR is merged.

Best regards
Tim Düsterhus

2 months ago by Barel — view source — reply

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Hi

Am 2026-03-16 01:41, schrieb Morgan:

For this extension, I'm not sure what the advantages are over simple
function composition (array_any was introduced for exactly this sort of
job and is applicable to any function)

I agree. Especially since the Partial Function Application RFC was
accepted an ad-hoc implementation would just be:
 $str = 'bazinga';

 $strStartsWithAny = \array_any(['foo', 'bar', 'baz'],
\str_starts_with($str, ?));

I have also added an optimization to PHP 8.6 that compiles array_map()
into a foreach loop when the callback is first class callable or PFA:
https://github.com/php/php-src/pull/20934. I plan to extend this to the
other array_* functions once the PFA PR is merged.

Best regards
Tim Düsterhus

Tim, Morgan

Thanks for your comments. I did not realise that this would be easily
implemented by using array_any. This means that the RFC that I was
planning to create is not actually needed

Cheers

Carlos

2 months ago by Larry Garfield — view source — reply

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I have also added an optimization to PHP 8.6 that compiles array_map()
into a foreach loop when the callback is first class callable or PFA:
https://github.com/php/php-src/pull/20934. I plan to extend this to the
other array_* functions once the PFA PR is merged.

Best regards
Tim Düsterhus

!!! I didn't realize you'd done so. That's awesome, and needs more publicity. :-)

With all the compile optimizations around pipes, PFA, etc., I wonder if there's a way to make it more generic? Like, can tools be built for pipes and PFA that can get down-compiled, without having to special case everything in the engine?

--Larry Garfield