Checking for empty arrays: count vs empty

I generally use empty. Im not sure why people would use count really - If the array is large then count takes longer/has more overhead. If you simply need to know whether or not the array is empty then use empty.

I was curious to see which one was actually faster so I made a simple script to benchmark those functions.

<?php

function benchmark($name, $iterations, $action){
    $time=microtime(true);
    for($i=0;$i<=$iterations;++$i){
        $action();
    }
    echo $name . ' ' . round(microtime(true)-$time, 6) . "\n";
}

$iterations = 1000000;
$x = array();
$y = range(0, 10000000);
$actions = array(
    "Empty empty()" => function() use($x){
        empty($x);
    },
    "Empty count()" => function() use($x){
        count($x);
    },
    "Full empty()" => function() use($y){
        empty($y);
    },
    "Full count()" => function() use($y){
        count($y);
    },
    ############
    "IF empty empty()" => function() use($x){
        if(empty($x)){ $t=1; }
    },
    "IF empty count()" => function() use($x){
        if(count($x)){ $t=1; }
    },
    "IF full empty()" => function() use($y){
        if(empty($y)){ $t=1; }
    },
    "IF full count()" => function() use($y){
        if(count($y)){ $t=1; }
    },
    ############
    "OR empty empty()" => function() use($x){
        empty($x) OR $t=1;
    },
    "OR empty count()" => function() use($x){
        count($x) OR $t=1;
    },
    "OR full empty()" => function() use($y){
        empty($y) OR $t=1;
    },
    "OR full count()" => function() use($y){
        count($y) OR $t=1;
    },
    ############
    "IF/ELSE empty empty()" => function() use($x){
        if(empty($x)){ $t=1; } else { $t=2; }
    },
    "IF/ELSE empty count()" => function() use($x){
        if(count($x)){ $t=1; } else { $t=2; }
    },
    "IF/ELSE full empty()" => function() use($y){
        if(empty($y)){ $t=1; } else { $t=2; }
    },
    "IF/ELSE full count()" => function() use($y){
        if(count($y)){ $t=1; } else { $t=2; }
    },
    ############
    "( ? : ) empty empty()" => function() use($x){
        $t = (empty($x) ? 1 : 2);
    },
    "( ? : ) empty count()" => function() use($x){
        $t = (count($x) ? 1 : 2);
    },
    "( ? : ) full empty()" => function() use($y){
        $t = (empty($y) ? 1 : 2);
    },
    "( ? : ) full count()" => function() use($y){
        $t = (count($y) ? 1 : 2);
    }
);

foreach($actions as $name => $action){
    benchmark($name, $iterations, $action);
}
//END

Since I was doing it I also tried to check the performance doing operations that would normally be associated with count()/empty()

Using PHP 5.4.39:

Empty empty() 0.118691
Empty count() 0.218974
Full empty() 0.133747
Full count() 0.216424
IF empty empty() 0.166474
IF empty count() 0.235922
IF full empty() 0.120642
IF full count() 0.248273
OR empty empty() 0.123875
OR empty count() 0.258665
OR full empty() 0.157839
OR full count() 0.224869
IF/ELSE empty empty() 0.167004
IF/ELSE empty count() 0.263351
IF/ELSE full empty() 0.145794
IF/ELSE full count() 0.248425
( ? : ) empty empty() 0.169487
( ? : ) empty count() 0.265701
( ? : ) full empty() 0.149847
( ? : ) full count() 0.252891

Using HipHop VM 3.6.1 (dbg)

Empty empty() 0.210652
Empty count() 0.212123
Full empty() 0.206016
Full count() 0.204722
IF empty empty() 0.227852
IF empty count() 0.219821
IF full empty() 0.220823
IF full count() 0.221397
OR empty empty() 0.218813
OR empty count() 0.220105
OR full empty() 0.229118
OR full count() 0.221787
IF/ELSE empty empty() 0.221499
IF/ELSE empty count() 0.221274
IF/ELSE full empty() 0.221879
IF/ELSE full count() 0.228737
( ? : ) empty empty() 0.224143
( ? : ) empty count() 0.222459
( ? : ) full empty() 0.221606
( ? : ) full count() 0.231288

Conclusions if you're using PHP:

empty() is much much faster than count() in both scenarios, with an empty and populated array
count() performs the same with a full or empty array.
Doing a simple IF or just a Boolean operation is the same.
IF/ELSE is very slightly more efficient than ( ? : ). Unless you're doing billions of iterations with expressions in the middle it is completely insignificant.

Conclusions if you're using HHVM:

empty() is a teeny-weeny bit faster than count() but insignificantly so.

[ The rest is the same as in PHP ]

In conclusion of the conclusion, if you just need to know if the array is empty always use empty();

This was just a curious test simply done without taking many things into account. It is just a proof of concept and might not reflect operations in production.

I think it's only personal preference. Some people might say empty is faster (e.g. http://jamessocol.com/projects/count_vs_empty.php) while others might say count is better since it was originally made for arrays. empty is more general and can be applied to other types.

php.net gives the following warning for count though :

count() may return 0 for a variable that isn't set, but it may also return 0 for a variable that has been initialized with an empty array. Use isset() to test if a variable is set.

In other words, if the variable is not set, you will get a notice from PHP saying it's undefined. Therefore, before using count, it would be preferable to check the variable with isset. This is not necessary with empty.

Checking for empty arrays: count vs empty

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