replace count() usage to empty() when possible

[samsonasik]

ref: http://maettig.com/code/php/php-performance-benchmarks.php#empty

[adamlundrigan]

Is there a definitive benchmark on this?

Knowing nothing about properly benchmarking language features, I wrote this:

<?php

for ( $i = 0; $i < 10; $i++ )
{

    $array = range(0,5000);
    $start = microtime(true);
    var_dump(empty($array));
    var_dump((microtime(true) - $start) * 1000000);
    unset($array, $start);
    
    $array = range(0,5000);
    $start = microtime(true);
    var_dump(count($array) === 0);
    var_dump((microtime(true) - $start) * 1000000);
    unset($array, $start);
    
    $array = range(0,5000);
    $start = microtime(true);
    var_dump($array == []);
    var_dump((microtime(true) - $start) * 1000000);
    unset($array, $start);
    
    echo "\n\n";

}

https://3v4l.org/GpIT6

Sample result

bool(false)
float(55.074691772461)
bool(false)
float(1256.9427490234)
bool(false)
float(19.073486328125)

bool(false)
float(19.073486328125)
bool(false)
float(13.113021850586)
bool(false)
float(13.113021850586)

bool(false)
float(11.920928955078)
bool(false)
float(21.934509277344)
bool(false)
float(12.874603271484)

bool(false)
float(12.15934753418)
bool(false)
float(16.927719116211)
bool(false)
float(13.113021850586)

bool(false)
float(11.205673217773)
bool(false)
float(11.920928955078)
bool(false)
float(11.920928955078)

bool(false)
float(11.920928955078)
bool(false)
float(12.15934753418)
bool(false)
float(15.020370483398)

bool(false)
float(20.027160644531)
bool(false)
float(13.113021850586)
bool(false)
float(13.113021850586)

bool(false)
float(17.881393432617)
bool(false)
float(14.066696166992)
bool(false)
float(12.15934753418)

bool(false)
float(20.027160644531)
bool(false)
float(13.828277587891)
bool(false)
float(12.874603271484)

bool(false)
float(11.920928955078)
bool(false)
float(12.15934753418)
bool(false)
float(14.066696166992)

but my results aren't consistent. After the first iteration the discrepancy is small with neither method being consistently "ahead".

[samsonasik]

the benchmark code can be found at http://maettig.com/code/php/php-performance-benchmarks.phps