why should one prefer call_user_func_array over regular calling of function?

Question

function foobar($arg, $arg2) {     echo __FUNCTION__, " got $arg and $arg2\n"; } foobar('one','two'); // OUTPUTS : foobar got one and two   call_user_func_array("foobar", array("one", "two")); // // OUTPUTS : foobar got one and two  

As I can see both regular one and call_user_func_array method both outputs same, then why should one prefer it?

In which scenario regular calling method will fail but call_user_func_array will not?

Can I get any such example?

Thank you

Answer 1

1. You have an array with the arguments for your function which is of indeterminate length.

   $args = someFuncWhichReturnsTheArgs();  foobar( /* put these $args here, you do not know how many there are */ ); 

   The alternative would be:

   switch (count($args)) {     case 1:         foobar($args[0]);         break;     case 2:         foobar($args[0], $args[1]);         break;     ... } 

   Which is not a solution.

The use case for this may be rare, but when you come across it you need it.