php - Difference between array_push() and $array[] =

Question

In the PHP manual, (array_push) says..

If you use array_push() to add one element to the array it's better to use $array[] = because in that way there is no overhead of calling a function.

For example :

$arr = array();
array_push($arr, "stackoverflow");
print_r($arr);

vs

$arr[] = "stackoverflow";
print_r($arr);

I don't understand why there is a big difference.

Answer 1

When you call a function in PHP (such as array_push()), there are overheads to the call, as PHP has to look up the function reference, find its position in memory and execute whatever code it defines.

Using $arr[] = 'some value'; does not require a function call, and implements the addition straight into the data structure. Thus, when adding a lot of data it is a lot quicker and resource-efficient to use $arr[].