PHP Arrays: When should I use `array()` vs. `[]`?

PHP: Exploring the Differences Between array() and []

In PHP, the array() and [] notations are used to create arrays. While both methods serve the same purpose, certain differences and considerations must be taken into account.

array() vs. []

The array() syntax has been available in PHP since its early versions, while the square bracket notation [] was introduced in PHP 5.4. The primary difference between the two is the syntactic brevity of the latter.

The following code using array() would produce an array with two key-value pairs:

<code class="php">$data = array('name' => 'test',
              'id'   => 'theID');</code>

In PHP >= 5.4, the same array can be created using the short array syntax:

<code class="php">$data = ['name' => 'test', 'id' => 'theID'];</code>

Short PHP Tags

The short PHP tag (

Recommendation

For compatibility across different PHP versions and to avoid any potential issues, it is generally advisable to use the full array() notation and the full PHP opening tag (= 5.4, it should not be relied upon when cross-version compatibility is a requirement. Additionally, short PHP tags should be avoided due to security concerns.

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