$myArray = array() vs. []

Question

I found this "modern" version of defining an array in the sources of laravel 5. Are there any advantages of doing it this way?

// the traditional way
$arrEmpty = array();
$arrFilled = array(
    'a' => 'apple'
);

// the 'modern' way
$arrEmpty = [];
$arrFilled = [
    'a' => 'apple'
];

The 'new' way does not seem to be standard, so I couldn't use this one on PHP 5.3. Any doc-links are welcome.

"modern" version of defining an array in laravel 5 . It is not laravel. It is PHP. — Sougata Bose
– Sougata Bose, Commented Jul 13, 2015 at 9:41
The new way is only as standard as the fact that some libraries frameworks still support older PHP versions where the short array syntax isn't available, so they can't use it — Mark Baker
– Mark Baker, Commented Jul 13, 2015 at 9:41
@b0s3 I know that it is PHP, I wrote I found [...] in laravel 5 — webster
– webster, Commented Jul 13, 2015 at 9:45

PHPhil · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-13 09:46:34Z

2

As of PHP 5.4 you can also use the short array syntax, which replaces array() with []. http://php.net/

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

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

answered Jul 13, 2015 at 9:46

PHPhil

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Comments

Ilanus · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-13 09:45:24Z

-1

Following [] is supported in PHP 5.4

Square bracket array shortcut - keys and values are separated by colons:

$a = [1, 2, 3];
$b = ['foo': 'orange', 'bar': 'apple', 'baz': 'lemon'];

Square bracket array shortcut - keys and values are separated by double arrows:

$a = [1, 2, 3];
$b = ['foo' => 'orange', 'bar' => 'apple', 'baz' => 'lemon'];

This is a short syntax only and in PHP < 5.4 it won't work.

answered Jul 13, 2015 at 9:45

Ilanus

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