What is the max key size for an array in PHP?

Question

I am generating associative arrays and the key value is a string concat of 1..n columns.

Is there a max length for keys that will come back to bite me? If so, I\'ll

Answer 1

In zend_hash.h, you can find zend_inline_hash_func() method that can show how to hash key string in PHP, So use key which string length less than 8 characters is better for performance.

static inline ulong zend_inline_hash_func(char *arKey, uint nKeyLength) {

register ulong hash = 5381;

/* variant with the hash unrolled eight times */
for (; nKeyLength >= 8; nKeyLength -= 8) {
    hash = ((hash << 5) + hash) + *arKey++;
    hash = ((hash << 5) + hash) + *arKey++;
    hash = ((hash << 5) + hash) + *arKey++;
    hash = ((hash << 5) + hash) + *arKey++;
    hash = ((hash << 5) + hash) + *arKey++;
    hash = ((hash << 5) + hash) + *arKey++;
    hash = ((hash << 5) + hash) + *arKey++;
    hash = ((hash << 5) + hash) + *arKey++;
}
switch (nKeyLength) {
    case 7: hash = ((hash << 5) + hash) + *arKey++; /* fallthrough... */
    case 6: hash = ((hash << 5) + hash) + *arKey++; /* fallthrough... */
    case 5: hash = ((hash << 5) + hash) + *arKey++; /* fallthrough... */
    case 4: hash = ((hash << 5) + hash) + *arKey++; /* fallthrough... */
    case 3: hash = ((hash << 5) + hash) + *arKey++; /* fallthrough... */
    case 2: hash = ((hash << 5) + hash) + *arKey++; /* fallthrough... */
    case 1: hash = ((hash << 5) + hash) + *arKey++; break;
    case 0: break;  EMPTY_SWITCH_DEFAULT_CASE()
}
    return hash;   
}