in_array problem

Question

I have a couple of big arrays with numbers as items, each one has 5 000 - 10 000 values.

All are the simple arrays, like

$array = array(125,345345,345,3485,324,65,746647,3221, ... );

I'm trying to search them for some number, and repeat this operation nearly 1 000 times for different numbers.

Like

if $array has item 345 {
    return true
} else {
    return false
}

But the request takes a long time to finish. Sometimes server gives a timeout error.

What is the best way to search for some number in simple by structure, but big by their size arrays?

Answer 1

The simplest thing is to flip the array around (see array_flip) and use isset($array[$key]). That uses a hash lookup instead of a search, so it's much faster.

Other than that, try using a database or some more optimal way of dealing with large datasets.