In PHP, which is faster: preg_split or explode?
In a simple usage explode()
is than faster, see: micro-optimization.com/explode-vs-preg_split (link from web.archive.org)
But preg_split
has the advantage of supporting tabs (\t
) and spaces with \s
.
the \s
metacharacter is used to find a whitespace character.
A whitespace character can be (http://php.net/manual/en/regexp.reference.escape.php):
- space character (32 =
0x20
) - tab character (9 =
0x09
) - carriage return character (13 =
0x0D
) - new line character (10 =
0x0A
) - form feed character (12 =
0x0C
)
In this case you should see the cost and benefit.
A tip, use array_filter
for "delete" empty items in array:
Example:
$keyword = explode(' ', $_GET['search']); //or preg_split
print_r($keyword);
$keyword = array_filter($arr, 'empty');
print_r($keyword);
Note: RegExp Perfomance
Explode is faster, per PHP.net
Tip If you don't need the power of regular expressions, you can choose faster (albeit simpler) alternatives like explode() or str_split().