The data structures that will be supported in PHP8 will provide more space for your code

PHP is a widely used scripting language that is widely used for web development, server-side programming, and command line programming. As PHP continues to be updated and developed, it has increasingly become a more powerful programming tool, providing users with more features and more tools to develop high-quality applications. Among them, data structure is a very important area. An effective data structure can greatly improve the performance and readability of the program. In this article, we will discuss the new data structures supported in PHP8. These new data structures will allow your code to gain more space.

1. Array

Array is one of the most basic data structures in PHP and is a variable used to store a set of values. Like other programming languages, PHP's arrays also have multiple types such as indexed, associative, and multidimensional. In PHP8, the performance of arrays has been further improved, which is particularly important when dealing with large data sets. According to official data testing, in PHP8, when processing arrays with millions of elements, its performance will be improved compared to PHP7.4.

2. Keyset

A new data structure is introduced in PHP8: keyset. Keysets are similar to sets, but they use keys instead of values. It is a class that implements Countable, Iterable and ArrayAccess interfaces. The main purpose of a keyset is to provide an efficient, accessible, unordered, and non-repeatable key structure.

$keySet = new KeySet(['foo', 'bar', 'baz']);

Through key sets, developers can check whether a key exists, obtain the location of a key, and delete a key in O(1) time. It performs better than a hash table at storing key-value pairs and is a convenient data structure. Keysets are not only useful in web programming, they can also be used in CLI command line scripts.

3. Tuple

PHP8 also introduces the concept of tuple, which is a popular data structure type in Python. A tuple is an ordered, immutable, unmodifiable, data collection that supports multiple types of elements and can combine data that needs to be treated as a single unit. In PHP8, tuples are not a built-in data type yet, but they can be implemented through the spl library. The following is an example of a tuple:

<?php
$t1 = tuple(1, '2', 3.0);
echo $t1[0] . "
"; // int(1)
echo $t1[1] . "
"; // string(1) "2"
echo $t1[2] . "
"; // float(3)

4. String as an object

In PHP7.4 and previous versions, strings are regarded as basic scalar types. However, in PHP8, the string is promoted to an object, which can be manipulated using specific object methods. This makes PHP a more mature language and allows for deeper control over the behavior of strings. Some new operations include: trimming (removing leading and trailing spaces from a string) and more advanced interception and replacement. In addition, strings support a new, more readable syntax.

$str = 'hello world';
echo str_contains($str, 'hello'); // true
echo $str->startsWith('hello'); // true

5. Fixed-size collection

PHP8 also introduces a new data structure-fixed-size collection. Unlike a keyset, it is a fixed-size structure and elements cannot be added or removed. In some cases, fixed-size collections can lead to better performance because it is easier to optimize and reduces memory usage.

<?php
$set = new SplFixedArray(10);
$set[0] = 'hello';
$set[1] = 'world';
echo $set[0] . ' ' . $set[1]; // hello world

6. Summary

PHP8’s updates in data structure provide more possibilities for developing high-quality applications. These new data structures can not only improve the execution efficiency of the code, but also improve the readability and maintainability of the code. Developers should master these new data structures so that they can better utilize the potential of PHP and easily develop more efficient and stable web applications or command line scripts.

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