array_append_values()

Description

array_append_values() - fast alternative to PHP's built-in array_merge()

array array_append_values(array $target, array $extra);

You'll need to experiment with your own application to work out when array_append_values() is faster than PHP's built-in array_merge().

Parameters

array_append_values() takes two parameters:

• $target (array) - the array that $extra will be appended to
• $extra (array) - the list of values to append to $target

It's a good idea to only call array_append_values() if both $target and $extra are non-associative arrays (i.e. they use numbered indexes, and the value of those numbers isn't important). You can pass associative arrays into array_append_values(), but you'll probably find the results very confusing!

Return Values

array_append_values() returns a new array. This is the result of appending the values in $extra to $target.

• The keys and values from $target are maintained
• The values from $extra are appended
• The keys from $extra are ignored

Example

$target = [
    "fish" => "trout",
    "name" => "harry"
];

$extra = [
    "fish" => "salmon",
    "name" => "sally"
];

var_dump(array_append_values($target, $extra));

Outputs:

array(4) {
  'fish' =>
  string(5) "trout"
  'name' =>
  string(5) "harry"
  [0] =>
  string(6) "salmon"
  [1] =>
  string(5) "sally"
}