Is there a cleaner way than foreach to get an array of all "label" values?
$methods[0]['label'] = 'test';
$methods[0]['nr'] = 99;
$methods[1]['label'] = 'whatever';
$methods[1]['nr'] = 10;
foreach($methods as $method) {
$methodsLabel[] = $method['label'];
}
No, there is no faster way than your implemented code. All other methods will be slower due to the overhead of a function call. For a small array the difference will be trivial, but for a large one (100 members or so, depending on implementation), the difference can be huge...
You could array_map it, but I'd stick with the raw PHP you posted above... It's easier to maintain and IMHO more readable...
After all, tell me which at a glance tells you what it does more:
$results = array();
foreach ($array as $value) {
$results[] = $value['title'];
}
vs
$results = array_map(function($element) {
return $element['title'];
},
$array
);
Or:
$callback = function($element) {
return $element['title'];
}
$results = array_map($callback, $array);
Personally, the first does it for me the best. It's immediately obvious without knowing anything what it's doing. The others require knowledge of array_map semantics to understand. Couple that with the fact that array_map is slower, and it's a double win for foreach.
Code should only be as elegant as necessary. It should be readable above all else...
Sure, use array_map:
function getLabelFromMethod($method) {
return $method['label'];
}
$labels = array_map('getLabelFromMethod', $methods);
If you are on PHP 5.3+, you can also use a lambda function:
$labels = array_map(function($m) {
return $m['label'];
}, $methods);
foreach seems "ugly" for me in this case.As of PHP 5.5+, this is exactly what array_column() does:
$methodsLabel = array_column($methods, 'label');
http://php.net/manual/function.array-column.php
3v4l example: https://3v4l.org/ZabAb
array_map('array_shift', $methods);
Here assumption is that label will be the first element of each array.
label is sorted differently for any reason), the code will return incorrect results.
On PHP 5.3+ you can use an anonymous function paired with array_map.
$methodsLabel = array_map(function($item) { return $item['label']; }, $methods);
If label is first element in array then "current" with array_map will work fine.
array_map('current', $methods);
Arrow functions have been introduced into PHP 7.4, which makes this a little bit cleaner.
$methodsLabel = array_map(fn($x) => $x['label'], $methods)
