What is faster: append html to an array or use mixed html/php

Question

What is the faster way to output html in PHP that contains PHP variables?

Version A:

<div id="example"><?php echo $var; ?></div>
... much more like this

or

Version B:

$html = array();

$html[] = '<div id ="example">';
$html[] = &$var;
$html[] = '</div>';
$html[] = '... much more like this';

echo implode( '', $html );

Wrong · Accepted Answer · 2014-03-23 15:54:09Z

1

PHP - Hypertext Pre Processor

In fact, PHP is a templating engine itself. In any case variant A is better, but such code isn't the best solution for bigger projects. Try looking on MVC design pattern, which will help you separate database/business logic from the representation part of your application. Using an template engine (like Twig, Smarty, Blitz etc.) will help you achieve this too.

answered Mar 23, 2014 at 15:54

Wrong

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thetrompf · Accepted Answer · 2014-03-23 15:57:49Z

0

In this case it is faster to mix html and php. Version B, will essentially hold a big array in memory, and in the end loop through all the elements. So it will be slower, than just print/echo the data right away. Either way, I won't recommend either approach. I will suggest using a template engine and provide it with data, instead of mixing php and html, this way you can keep markup and logic completely separate. This is often done as a part of a MVC pattern as @Wrong described.

edited Mar 23, 2014 at 15:57

answered Mar 23, 2014 at 15:52

thetrompf

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7 Comments

user2429266 Over a year ago

So is Version A the common way to do this? It looks very unclean.

Wrong Over a year ago

Yes, version A is the common way to do this. Anyway, look for my answer above

Joren Over a year ago

@user2429266 If you think this looks unclean, you should take a look at Template engines (i.e. smarty.net) which makes you able to seperate php logic and html more neatly.

thetrompf Over a year ago

@Joren smarty.net is quite big, and has a lot of features which some would say doens't belong in an template engine, I can recommend twig as template engine, it is small easy extensible, and very fast. If you prefer no kind of logic what so ever in a template language, you could look at moustache for php.

user2429266 Over a year ago

I have a strictly separated logic&template codebase. This concerns just the template files. And they look terrible with the mixed way. Thanks.

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