How to check if PHP array is associative or sequen

Question

PHP treats all arrays as associative, so there aren't any built in functions. Can anyone recommend a fairly efficient way to check if an array contains only numeric keys?

Basically, I want to be able to differentiate between this:

$sequentialArray = array('apple', 'orange', 'tomato', 'carrot');

and this:

$assocArray = array('fruit1' => 'apple', 
                    'fruit2' => 'orange', 
                    'veg1' => 'tomato', 
                    'veg2' => 'carrot');

Answer 1

function checkAssoc($array){
    return  ctype_digit( implode('', array_keys($array) ) );
}

Answer 2

I noticed two popular approaches for this question: one using array_values() and other using key(). To find out which is faster, I wrote a small program:

$arrays = Array(
  'Array #1' => Array(1, 2, 3, 54, 23, 212, 123, 1, 1),
  'Array #2' => Array("Stack", 1.5, 20, Array(3.4)),
  'Array #3' => Array(1 => 4, 2 => 2),
  'Array #4' => Array(3.0, "2", 3000, "Stack", 5 => "4"),
  'Array #5' => Array("3" => 4, "2" => 2),
  'Array #6' => Array("0" => "One", 1.0 => "Two", 2 => "Three"),
  'Array #7' => Array(3 => "asdf", 4 => "asdf"),
  'Array #8' => Array("apple" => 1, "orange" => 2),
);

function is_indexed_array_1(Array &$arr) {
  return $arr === array_values($arr);
}

function is_indexed_array_2(Array &$arr) {
  for (reset($arr), $i = 0; key($arr) === $i++; next($arr))
    ;
  return is_null(key($arr));
}

// Method #1
$start = microtime(true);
for ($i = 0; $i < 1000; $i++) {
  foreach ($arrays as $array) {
    $dummy = is_indexed_array_1($array);
  }
}
$end = microtime(true);
echo "Time taken with method #1 = ".round(($end-$start)*1000.0,3)."ms\n";

// Method #2
$start = microtime(true);
for ($i = 0; $i < 1000; $i++) {
  foreach ($arrays as $array) {
    $dummy = is_indexed_array_2($array);
  }
}
$end = microtime(true);
echo "Time taken with method #1 = ".round(($end-$start)*1000.0,3)."ms\n";

Output for the program on PHP 5.2 on CentOS is as follows:

Time taken with method #1 = 10.745ms
Time taken with method #2 = 18.239ms

Output on PHP 5.3 yielded similar results. Obviously using array_values() is much faster.

Answer 3

I think the definition of a scalar array will vary by application. That is, some applications will require a more strict sense of what qualifies as a scalar array, and some applications will require a more loose sense.

Below I present 3 methods of varying strictness.

<?php
/**
 * Since PHP stores all arrays as associative internally, there is no proper
 * definition of a scalar array.
 * 
 * As such, developers are likely to have varying definitions of scalar array,
 * based on their application needs.
 * 
 * In this file, I present 3 increasingly strict methods of determining if an
 * array is scalar.
 * 
 * @author David Farrell <[e-mail]>
 */

/**
 * isArrayWithOnlyIntKeys defines a scalar array as containing
 * only integer keys.
 * 
 * If you are explicitly setting integer keys on an array, you
 * may need this function to determine scalar-ness.
 * 
 * @param array $a
 * @return boolean
 */ 
function isArrayWithOnlyIntKeys(array $a)
{
    if (!is_array($a))
        return false;
    foreach ($a as $k => $v)
        if (!is_int($k))
            return false;
    return true;
}

/**
 * isArrayWithOnlyAscendingIntKeys defines a scalar array as
 * containing only integer keys in ascending (but not necessarily
 * sequential) order.
 * 
 * If you are performing pushes, pops, and unsets on your array,
 * you may need this function to determine scalar-ness.
 * 
 * @param array $a
 * @return boolean
 */ 
function isArrayWithOnlyAscendingIntKeys(array $a)
{
    if (!is_array($a))
        return false;
    $prev = null;
    foreach ($a as $k => $v)
    {
        if (!is_int($k) || (null !== $prev && $k <= $prev))
            return false;
        $prev = $k;
    }
    return true;
}

/**
 * isArrayWithOnlyZeroBasedSequentialIntKeys defines a scalar array
 * as containing only integer keys in sequential, ascending order,
 * starting from 0.
 * 
 * If you are only performing operations on your array that are
 * guaranteed to either maintain consistent key values, or that
 * re-base the keys for consistency, then you can use this function.
 * 
 * @param array $a
 * @return boolean
 */
function isArrayWithOnlyZeroBasedSequentialIntKeys(array $a)
{
    if (!is_array($a))
        return false;
    $i = 0;
    foreach ($a as $k => $v)
        if ($i++ !== $k)
            return false;
    return true;
}

Answer 4

Modification on the most popular answer.
This takes a little more processing, but is more accurate.

<?php
//$a is a subset of $b
function isSubset($a, $b)
{
    foreach($a =>$v)
        if(array_search($v, $b) === false)
            return false;

    return true;

    //less effecient, clearer implementation. (uses === for comparison)
    //return array_intersect($a, $b) === $a;
}

function isAssoc($arr)
{
    return !isSubset(array_keys($arr), range(0, count($arr) - 1));
}

var_dump(isAssoc(array('a', 'b', 'c'))); // false
var_dump(isAssoc(array(1 => 'a', 0 => 'b', 2 => 'c'))); // false
var_dump(isAssoc(array("0" => 'a', "1" => 'b', "2" => 'c'))); // false 
//(use === in isSubset to get 'true' for above statement)
var_dump(isAssoc(array("a" => 'a', "b" => 'b', "c" => 'c'))); // true
?>

Answer 5

To merely check whether the array has non-integer keys (not whether the array is sequentially-indexed or zero-indexed):

function has_string_keys(array $array) {
  return count(array_filter(array_keys($array), 'is_string')) > 0;
}

If there is at least one string key, $array will be regarded as an associative array.

Answer 6

One way to approach this is to piggyback on json_encode, which already has its own internal method of differentiating between an associative array and an indexed array in order to output the correct JSON.

You can do this by checking to see if the first character returned after encoding is a { (associative array) or a [ (indexed array).

// Too short :)
function is_assoc($arr) {
    ksort($arr);
    return json_encode($arr)[0] === '{';
}