PHP version 7.4.33 is running on this server. The benchmarks are done live. Reload the page to get fresh numbers. You are free to use the source for whatever you want. Giving credits to me (Thiemo Mättig) would be nice.
Please note that these are micro benchmarks. Micro benchmarks are stupid. I created this comparison to learn something about PHP and how the PHP compiler works. This can not be used to compare PHP versions or servers.
| Method | Undefined | Null | False | Empty string | String '0' | String '1' | Long string | Summary | Index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
if (!$var) | 6 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 6 ms | 6778 |
if (empty($var)) | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 100 |
if ($var == '') | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 1 ms | 609 |
if ('' == $var) | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 1 ms | 625 |
if ($var === '') | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 501 |
if ('' === $var) | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 518 |
if (strcmp($var, '') == 0) | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 1 ms | 869 |
if (strcmp('', $var) == 0) | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 1 ms | 838 |
if (strlen($var) == 0) | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 1 ms | 594 |
if (!strlen($var)) | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 1 ms | 544 |
My conclusion:
In most cases, Do not use empty() because it does not trigger a warning when used with undefined variables.
Note that empty('0') returns true.
Use strlen() if you want to detect '0'.
Try to avoid == at all because it may cause strange behaviour
(e.g. '9a' == 9 returns true).
Prefer === over == and !== over != if possible
because it does compare the variable types in addition to the contents.
| Method | Empty array | 100 elements | Summary | Index |
|---|---|---|---|---|
count($array) === 0 //by reference | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 188 |
count($array) === 0 //by value | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 163 |
$array === [] | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 100 |
empty($array) | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 100 |
(bool)$array | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 210 |
My conclusion: Why count if you don't care about the exact number?
| Method | Equal | First character not equal | Last character not equal | Summary | Index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
$a == $b | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 223 |
$a === $b | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 100 |
!strcmp($a, $b) | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 1 ms | 458 |
strcmp($a, $b) == 0 | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 1 ms | 441 |
strcmp($a, $b) === 0 | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 1 ms | 491 |
strcasecmp($a, $b) === 0 | >0 ms | >0 ms | 1 ms | 1 ms | 893 |
My conclusion: Use what fits your needs.
| Method | Not found | Found at the start | Found in the middle | Found at the end | Summary | Index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
strstr($haystack, $needle) | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 186 |
strpos($haystack, $needle) !== false | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 100 |
strstr($haystack, $needle) !== false | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 159 |
stristr($haystack, $needle) | 2 ms | 2 ms | 2 ms | 2 ms | 8 ms | 6922 |
preg_match("/$needle/", $haystack) | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 1 ms | 895 |
preg_match("/$needle/i", $haystack) | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 1 ms | 1042 |
preg_match("/$needle/S", $haystack) | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 1 ms | 887 |
My conclusion:
It does not matter if you use strstr() or strpos().
Use the preg…() functions only if you need the power of regular expressions.
Never use the ereg…() functions.
| Method | Not found | Found at the start | Found in the middle | Found at the end | Summary | Index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
$haystack[0] === 'n' | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 113 |
strncmp($haystack, $needle, strlen($needle)) === 0 | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 113 |
strncmp($haystack, 'needle', 6) === 0 | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 101 |
strncasecmp($haystack, $needle, strlen($needle)) === 0 | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 104 |
strpos($haystack, $needle) === 0 | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 254 |
substr($haystack, 0, strlen($needle)) === $needle | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 100 |
strcmp(substr($haystack, 0, strlen($needle)), $needle) === 0 | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 185 |
substr_compare($haystack, $needle, 0, strlen($needle)) | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 156 |
substr_compare($haystack, $needle, 0) | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 104 |
preg_match('/^' . preg_quote($needle, '/') . '/', $haystack) | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 560 |
My conclusion:
strpos() is very fast and can be used in almost all cases.
strncmp() is good if you are looking for a constant length needle.
| Method | Not found | Found at the start | Found in the middle | Found at the end | Summary | Index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
$haystack[strlen($haystack) - 1] === 'n' | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 160 |
substr($haystack, strlen($haystack) - strlen($needle)) === $needle | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 145 |
substr($haystack, -strlen($needle)) === $needle | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 122 |
substr($haystack, -1) === 'n' | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 100 |
strcmp(substr($haystack, -strlen($needle)), $needle) === 0 | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 243 |
substr_compare($haystack, $needle, -strlen($needle), strlen($needle)) | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 238 |
substr_compare($haystack, $needle, -strlen($needle)) | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 205 |
preg_match('/' . preg_quote($needle, '/') . '$/', $haystack) | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 1 ms | 5038 |
My conclusion:
Using substr() with a negative position is a good trick.
| Method | Not found | Found at the start | Found in the middle | Found at the end | Summary | Index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
str_replace($search, $replace, $subject) | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 115 |
preg_replace("/$search/", $replace, $subject) | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 279 |
preg_replace("/$search/S", $replace, $subject) | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 253 |
strtr($subject, array($search => $replace)) | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 100 |
My conclusion:
Never use the ereg…() functions.
| Method | Not found | Found at the start | Found in the middle | Found at the end | Summary | Index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
str_replace($fromChar, $toChar, $subject) | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 122 |
strtr($subject, $fromChar, $toChar) | 1 ms | 2 ms | 2 ms | 1 ms | 6 ms | 1790 |
strtr($subject, array($fromChar => $toChar)) | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 100 |
My conclusion: Since PHP 7.0 strtr() can sometimes beat str_replace().
| Method | Not found | Found at start | Found at end | Found at both sides | Summary | Index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
trim($string, ',') | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 100 |
preg_replace('/^,*|,*$/', '', $string) | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 1 ms | 3129 |
preg_replace('/^,*|,*$/m', '', $string) | 1 ms | 1 ms | 1 ms | 1 ms | 5 ms | 20387 |
preg_replace('/^,+|,+$/', '', $string) | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 329 |
preg_replace('/^,+|,+$/m', '', $string) | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 358 |
preg_replace('/^,+/', '', preg_replace('/,+$/', '', …)) | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 550 |
My conclusion:
Always benchmark your regular expressions!
In this case, with .* you also replace nothing with nothing which takes time
because there is a lot of “nothing” in every string.
| Method | Empty string | Single occurrence | Multiple occurrences | Summary | Index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
explode(',', $string) | >0 ms | >0 ms | >0 ms | 1 ms | 100 |
preg_split('/,/', $string) | >0 ms | >0 ms | 1 ms | 1 ms | 191 |
preg_match_all('/[^,]+/', $string, $matches) | >0 ms | >0 ms | 1 ms | 2 ms | 282 |
My conclusion:
Don't use split(). It got deprecated in PHP 5.3 and removed from PHP 7.0.
| Method | Summary | Index |
|---|---|---|
for ($i = 0; $i < count($array); $i++) //by reference | >0 ms | 214 |
for ($i = 0; $i < count($array); $i++) //by value | >0 ms | 191 |
for ($i = 0, $count = count($array); $i < $count; $i++) | >0 ms | 100 |
for ($i = count($array) - 1; $i >= 0; $i--) | >0 ms | 124 |
for ($i = count($array) - 1; $i >= 0; --$i) | >0 ms | 119 |
$i = count($array); while ($i--) | >0 ms | 142 |
My conclusion:
count() could have been horribly slow in PHP 5 and below when copy-on-write accidentally kicked in. Always precalculate it, if possible.
| Method | Summary | Index |
|---|---|---|
$array[0] | 2 ms | 100 |
$array['key'] | 2 ms | 100 |
My conclusion: I like associative arrays.
| Method | Summary | Index |
|---|---|---|
implode(' ', $array) | >0 ms | 121 |
"$array[0] $array[1] $array[2]" | >0 ms | 112 |
$array[0] . ' ' . $array[1] . ' ' . $array[2] | >0 ms | 100 |
sprintf('%s %s %s', $array[0], $array[1], $array[2]) | 1 ms | 2099 |
vsprintf('%s %s %s', $array) | 1 ms | 2176 |
My conclusion: String concatenation is a cheap operation in PHP. Don't waste your time benchmarking this.
| Method | Summary | Index |
|---|---|---|
'contains no dollar signs' | >0 ms | 123 |
"contains no dollar signs" | >0 ms | 114 |
'$variables $are $not $replaced' | >0 ms | 102 |
"\$variables \$are \$not \$replaced" | >0 ms | 107 |
"$variables $are $replaced" | >0 ms | 102 |
$variables . ' ' . $are . ' ' . $replaced | >0 ms | 100 |
$variables . " " . $are . " " . $replaced | >0 ms | 102 |
My conclusion: It does not matter if you use single or double quotes at all. The inclusion of variables has a measurable effect, but that's independent from the quotes.
© Thiemo Mättig, created in September 2008, updated in August 2017