What variants of array declaration syntax are available in PHP 5.4?

Question

On the PHP documentation page for arrays, the example code given is the following:

<?php
$array = array(
    "foo" => "bar",
    "bar" => "foo",
);

// as of PHP 5.4
$array = [
    "foo" => "bar",
    "bar" => "foo",
];
?>

Does that mean that the first code is invalid in PHP 5.4, or is the second code just an alternative?

The shorthand notation is available starting with 5.4 but both remain valid. — NullUserException
– NullUserException, Commented Jan 24, 2013 at 18:16
php.net/manual/en/migration54.new-features.php and php.net/manual/en/migration54.deprecated.php should answer your question. As would running the code in a 5.4 environment. — Felix Kling
– Felix Kling, Commented Jan 24, 2013 at 18:20

helmbert · Accepted Answer · 2013-01-24 18:17:32Z

2

The first code is still valid. The second notation is just a shorter and more convenient alternative.

answered Jan 24, 2013 at 18:17

helmbert

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Comments

GGio · Accepted Answer · 2013-01-24 18:20:08Z

0

As others noted the first one is valid. The second one is shorter version.

Here are the pros and cons for second version:

Pro

  Good for framework development when dealing with long parameterlists
  Other web languages have similar syntax
  Readable

Contra

  Yet another alias
  Would take distinctness from []
  Not searchable through search engines
  Unreadable
  Patch may be difficult to maintain in future

from PHPWiki

answered Jan 24, 2013 at 18:20

GGio

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1 Comment

NullUserException Over a year ago

I want to smack whoever said the second version is "unreadable" in the head.

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