php.net |  support |  documentation |  report a bug |  advanced search |  search howto |  statistics |  random bug |  login

go to bug id or search bugs for

Request #78176 New function array_search_callback() accepts a callable as $needle
Submitted: 2019-06-17 17:12 UTC Modified: 2021-06-08 14:44 UTC
Votes:3
Avg. Score:4.7 ± 0.5
Reproduced:3 of 3 (100.0%)
Same Version:2 (66.7%)
Same OS:2 (66.7%)
From: david at davidwbarratt dot com Assigned:
Status: Suspended Package: Arrays related
PHP Version: Next Minor Version OS:
Private report: No CVE-ID: None
View Developer Edit
Welcome back! If you're the original bug submitter, here's where you can edit the bug or add additional notes.
If you forgot your password, you can retrieve your password here.
Password:
Status:
Package:
Bug Type:
Summary:
From: david at davidwbarratt dot com
New email:
PHP Version: OS:

 

 [2019-06-17 17:12 UTC] david at davidwbarratt dot com 
Description:
------------
It would be really helpful if array_search() would accept a callable as $needle. There are many instances where it is needed to loop through an array and stop and the first instance. Currently, the only work around is to make a function with a foreach() that returns early. This would bring PHP inline with JavaScript's Array.find() method.

This change would not be a breaking change because array_search() would continue to work exactly as before the change. The only difference would be that now $needle can accept a callable that returns a boolean.

This change would also make array_search() more like array_filter().

Test script:
---------------
// Current
function search( $haystack ) {
	foreach ( $haystack as $index => $value ) {
		if ( $value->id === 3 ) {
			return $value;
		}
	}

	return null;
}
$found = search( $haystack );

// Future
$found = array_search( function( $value, $index ) {
	return $value->id === 3;
}, $haystack );

Patches

Pull Requests

History

AllCommentsChangesGit/SVN commitsRelated reports
 [2019-06-18 01:58 UTC] requinix@php.net
-Summary: array_search() should accept a callable as $needle +Summary: New function array_search_callback() accepts a callable as $needle -Package: *General Issues +Package: Arrays related
 [2019-06-18 01:58 UTC] requinix@php.net 
It would be a breaking change: callables can be strings, arrays, __invoke-able objects, and Closures. There will be code out there that has arrays of those, and if array_search thinks its $needle may be callable then searching those arrays won't work.

So this should be a new function. Probably "array_search_callback", like preg_replace_callback.
 [2019-06-18 12:54 UTC] david at davidwbarratt dot com 
Ah! I didn't think about callable arrays.

May I suggest using the name array_search() instead? None of the array functions have _callback in them, so I think it might be odd to add that.
 [2019-06-18 12:56 UTC] david at davidwbarratt dot com 
Oops... and by array_search() I mean array_find() (sorry for the confusion!). array_find() would also be similar in naming to Array.find() in JavaScript.
 [2019-06-18 13:09 UTC] requinix@php.net 
I foresee a lot of "array_search or array_find, which does which?" confusion.

Anyway, if you'd like to help this along, in whatever form, check out the internals mailing list.
https://www.php.net/mailing-lists.php
 [2021-06-08 14:44 UTC] cmb@php.net
-Status: Open +Status: Suspended
 [2021-06-08 14:44 UTC] cmb@php.net 
Such feature additions require the RFC process[1].  Anybody is
welcome to pursue it.  For the time being, I suspend this ticket.

[1] <https://wiki.php.net/rfc/howto>
 
PHP Copyright © 2001-2025 The PHP Group
All rights reserved. 		Last updated: Tue May 13 13:01:27 2025 UTC