Proposal for a new array function

Matthew Setter wrote on 08/02/2016 14:32:

I want to propose a new PHP array method, called has_numeric_keys (or
something similar/better), that would have the following method signature:

bool has_numeric_keys(array $array)

I like it.

I also suspect it could be implemented very efficiently in core, at
least for certain special cases, which is a good reason not to just
leave it in userland. For instance, as I understand it, some arrays in
ZE3 (PHP7) are "packed" if they consist of (mostly?) sequential
integers; any such array could instantly return true for this function.

While on the other side, a polyfill with identical semantics but worse
behaviour would be easy to provide as a composer package, reducing BC
concerns.

It would need an RFC, but that shouldn't be too hard to get drafted in
this case. https://wiki.php.net/rfc/howto

Regards,

Rowan Collins
[IMSoP]

Hi,

I want to propose a new PHP array method, called has_numeric_keys (or
something similar/better), that would have the following method signature:

bool has_numeric_keys(array $array)

I have no strong opinion on it but I wonder if it should have a recursive
version as well, if accepted. I see it a bit like array_walk.

Cheers,
Pierre

Le 08/02/2016 15:32, Matthew Setter a écrit :

I want to propose a new PHP array method, called has_numeric_keys (or
something similar/better), that would have the following method signature:

bool has_numeric_keys(array $array)

The reason for it is to check if the array passed to it only had numeric
keys.

Interesting. If you want to check that your argument has numeric keys
only, you should change the function's name.

For a better consistency, may I suggest a function that would allow to
know whether array keys are all numeric, all strings, or mixed.
Something like array_keys_type() returning one of 3 predefined constants
: ARRAY_KEYS_NUMERIC, ARRAY_KEYS_STRING, ARRAY_KEYS_MIXED.

Regards

François

I want to propose a new PHP array method, called has_numeric_keys (or
something similar/better), that would have the following method signature:

bool has_numeric_keys(array $array)

The reason for it is to check if the array passed to it only had numeric
keys.

Why this method, when you could do it in userland PHP? Answer? Convenience.
I found, recently, that I had to perform this kind of check, when patching
Zend\Db\Sql\Insert.php. The approach I took was this:

return array_keys($arr) !== range(0, count($arr) - 1);

Not sure of my approach, I took to Twitter and received the following
suggestions, amongst others:

function isArrNum($arr) {
foreach($arr as $i =>$v){
if (!is_int($i)) {
return false;
}
}
return true;
}

count(array_filter(array_keys($array), 'is_string')) > 0

array_filter([...], 'is_int', ARRAY_FILTER_USE_KEY)

This convinced me that it wasn't just me seeing a valid use case for it,
and that others have implemented differing solutions when presented with
the same situation. Given that, I believe a simple, utility, function such
as this would be of help.

That's the nice thing about userland... you are giving them ability to
implement what they want!
array_filter([...], 'is_int', ARRAY_FILTER_USE_KEY) does the job as the
others... don't think having a new function would prevent this.

As for who would implement it, that would be me.

--
Kind regards,

Matthew Setter
*Freelance Software Developer & Technical Writer *
Host of Free the Geek http://freethegeek.fm | Author of Zend Framework
2
Foundations https://leanpub.com/zendframework2-for-beginners

w: http://www.matthewsetter.com
t: @settermjd https://www.twitter.com/settermjd
g+: *+MatthewSetterFreelanceWriterDeveloper
<https://plus.google.com/u/0/+MatthewSetterFreelanceWriterDeveloper/posts

li: in/matthewsetter https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewsetter

--
--
Kinn Coelho Julião
Toronto - ON/Canada

I want to propose a new PHP array method, called has_numeric_keys (or
something similar/better), that would have the following method signature:

bool has_numeric_keys(array $array)

The reason for it is to check if the array passed to it only had numeric
keys.

Why this method, when you could do it in userland PHP? Answer? Convenience.
I found, recently, that I had to perform this kind of check, when patching
Zend\Db\Sql\Insert.php. The approach I took was this:

return array_keys($arr) !== range(0, count($arr) - 1);

Not sure of my approach, I took to Twitter and received the following
suggestions, amongst others:

function isArrNum($arr) {
foreach($arr as $i =>$v){
if (!is_int($i)) {
return false;
}
}
return true;
}

count(array_filter(array_keys($array), 'is_string')) > 0

array_filter([...], 'is_int', ARRAY_FILTER_USE_KEY)

This convinced me that it wasn't just me seeing a valid use case for it,
and that others have implemented differing solutions when presented with
the same situation. Given that, I believe a simple, utility, function such
as this would be of help.

As for who would implement it, that would be me.

--
Kind regards,

Matthew Setter
*Freelance Software Developer & Technical Writer *
Host of Free the Geek http://freethegeek.fm | Author of Zend Framework
2
Foundations https://leanpub.com/zendframework2-for-beginners

w: http://www.matthewsetter.com
t: @settermjd https://www.twitter.com/settermjd
g+: *+MatthewSetterFreelanceWriterDeveloper
<https://plus.google.com/u/0/+MatthewSetterFreelanceWriterDeveloper/posts

li: in/matthewsetter https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewsetter

Usually, checking only numeric keys is not enough. You may also need to
check if those numeric keys are a sequence starting from 0.
At least, that was my case when I was implementing MessagePack protocol.
And I ended up just doing this trivial check: array_values($array) ===
$array.

--
Thank you and best regards,
Eugene Leonovich

Hi,

I want to propose a new PHP array method, called has_numeric_keys (or
something similar/better), that would have the following method signature:

bool has_numeric_keys(array $array)

The reason for it is to check if the array passed to it only had numeric
keys.

Why this method, when you could do it in userland PHP? Answer? Convenience.
I found, recently, that I had to perform this kind of check, when patching
Zend\Db\Sql\Insert.php. The approach I took was this:

return array_keys($arr) !== range(0, count($arr) - 1);

Not sure of my approach, I took to Twitter and received the following
suggestions, amongst others:

function isArrNum($arr) {
foreach($arr as $i =>$v){
if (!is_int($i)) {
return false;
}
}
return true;
}

count(array_filter(array_keys($array), 'is_string')) > 0

array_filter([...], 'is_int', ARRAY_FILTER_USE_KEY)

This convinced me that it wasn't just me seeing a valid use case for it,
and that others have implemented differing solutions when presented with
the same situation. Given that, I believe a simple, utility, function such
as this would be of help.

As for who would implement it, that would be me.
I like it. Would like to see it be a bit more generic though, something
like (ignore the name, I can't name functions):

array_validate_keys($array, is_int);

I say this because it allows for more potential uses (that and I've done
exactly the same to check all keys are strings before).

• Matt.

I want to propose a new PHP array method, called has_numeric_keys (or
something similar/better), that would have the following method signature:

bool has_numeric_keys(array $array)

The reason for it is to check if the array passed to it only had numeric
keys.

Why this method, when you could do it in userland PHP? Answer? Convenience.
I found, recently, that I had to perform this kind of check, when patching
Zend\Db\Sql\Insert.php. The approach I took was this:

return array_keys($arr) !== range(0, count($arr) - 1);

Not sure of my approach, I took to Twitter and received the following
suggestions, amongst others:

function isArrNum($arr) {
foreach($arr as $i =>$v){
if (!is_int($i)) {
return false;
}
}
return true;
}

count(array_filter(array_keys($array), 'is_string')) > 0

array_filter([...], 'is_int', ARRAY_FILTER_USE_KEY)

This convinced me that it wasn't just me seeing a valid use case for it,
and that others have implemented differing solutions when presented with
the same situation. Given that, I believe a simple, utility, function such
as this would be of help.

As for who would implement it, that would be me.

--
Kind regards,

Matthew Setter
*Freelance Software Developer & Technical Writer *
Host of Free the Geek http://freethegeek.fm | Author of Zend Framework 2
Foundations https://leanpub.com/zendframework2-for-beginners

w: http://www.matthewsetter.com
t: @settermjd https://www.twitter.com/settermjd
g+: +MatthewSetterFreelanceWriterDeveloper
https://plus.google.com/u/0/+MatthewSetterFreelanceWriterDeveloper/posts
li: in/matthewsetter https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewsetter

Hi,

Note that your approach ("return array_keys($arr) !== range(0,
count($arr) - 1);") does another type of check than the name
has_numeric_keys implies. Your approach will also validate that the keys
are continuous. This matches a check for non-associative arrays. Is that
the goal with this function, to help developers determine whether an
array is associative or not? Are you actually asking for a
array_is_assoc($arr) function?

// Simon