[php] PHP - Check if two arrays are equal

I'd like to check if two arrays are equal. I mean: same size, same index, same values. How can I do that?

Using !== as suggested by a user, I expect that the following would print enter if at least one element in the array(s) are different, but in fact it does not.

if (($_POST['atlOriginal'] !== $oldAtlPosition) 
    or ($_POST['atl'] !== $aext) 
    or ($_POST['sidesOriginal'] !== $oldSidePosition) 
    or ($_POST['sidesOriginal'] !== $sideext)) {

    echo "enter";
}

Another method for checking equality regardless of value order works by using http://php.net/manual/en/function.array-intersect.php, like so:

$array1 = array(2,5,3);
$array2 = array(5,2,3);
if($array1 === array_intersect($array1, $array2) && $array2 === array_intersect($array2, $array1)) {
    echo 'Equal';
} else {
    echo 'Not equal';
}

Here's a version that works also with multidimensional arrays using http://php.net/manual/en/function.array-uintersect.php:

$array1 = array(
    array(5, 2),
    array(3, 6),
    array(2, 9, 4)
);
$array2 = array(
    array(3, 6),
    array(2, 9, 4),
    array(5, 2)
);

if($array1 === array_uintersect($array1, $array2, 'compare') && $array2 === array_uintersect($array2, $array1, 'compare')) {
    echo 'Equal';
} else {
    echo 'Not equal';
}

function compare($v1, $v2) {
    if ($v1===$v2) {
        return 0;
    }
    if ($v1 > $v2) return 1;
    return -1;
}

Syntax problem on your arrays

$array1 = array(
    'a' => 'value1',
    'b' => 'value2',
    'c' => 'value3',
 );

$array2 = array(
    'a' => 'value1',
    'b' => 'value2',
    'c' => 'value3',
 );

$diff = array_diff($array1, $array2);

var_dump($diff); 

Short solution that works even with arrays which keys are given in different order:

public static function arrays_are_equal($array1, $array2)
{
    array_multisort($array1);
    array_multisort($array2);
    return ( serialize($array1) === serialize($array2) );
}

One way: (implementing 'considered equal' for http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6902#section-4.6)

This way allows associative arrays whose members are ordered differently - e.g. they'd be considered equal in every language but php :)

// recursive ksort
function rksort($a) {
  if (!is_array($a)) {
    return $a;
  }
  foreach (array_keys($a) as $key) {
    $a[$key] = ksort($a[$key]);
  }
  // SORT_STRING seems required, as otherwise
  // numeric indices (e.g. "0") aren't sorted.
  ksort($a, SORT_STRING);
  return $a;
}


// Per http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6902#section-4.6
function considered_equal($a1, $a2) {
  return json_encode(rksort($a1)) === json_encode(rksort($a2));
}

Use php function array_diff(array1, array2);

It will return a the difference between arrays. If its empty then they're equal.

example:

$array1 = array(
    'a' => 'value1',

    'b' => 'value2',

    'c' => 'value3'
 );

$array2 = array(
    'a' => 'value1',

    'b' => 'value2',

    'c' => 'value4'
 );

$diff = array_diff(array1, array2);

var_dump($diff); 

//it will print array = (0 => ['c'] => 'value4' ) 

Example 2:

$array1 = array(
    'a' => 'value1',

    'b' => 'value2',

    'c' => 'value3',
 );

$array2 = array(
    'a' => 'value1',

    'b' => 'value2',

    'c' => 'value3',
 );

$diff = array_diff(array1, array2);

var_dump($diff); 

//it will print empty; 

if (array_diff($a,$b) == array_diff($b,$a)) {
  // Equals
}

if (array_diff($a,$b) != array_diff($b,$a)) {
  // Not Equals
}

From my pov it's better to use array_diff than array_intersect because with checks of this nature the differences returned commonly are less than the similarities, this way the bool conversion is less memory hungry.

Edit Note that this solution is for plain arrays and complements the == and === one posted above that is only valid for dictionaries.

array_diff — Computes the difference of arrays

http://php.net/manual/en/function.array-diff.php

array array_diff ( array $array1 , array $array2 [, array $... ] )

Compares array1 against one or more other arrays and returns the values in array1 that are not present in any of the other arrays.

Here is the example how to compare to arrays and get what is different between them.

$array1 = ['1' => 'XXX', 'second' => [
            'a' => ['test' => '2'],
            'b' => 'test'
        ], 'b' => ['no test']];

        $array2 = [
            '1' => 'XX',
            'second' => [
                'a' => ['test' => '5', 'z' => 5],
                'b' => 'test'
            ],
            'test'
        ];


        function compareArrayValues($arrayOne, $arrayTwo, &$diff = [], $reversed = false)
        {
            foreach ($arrayOne as $key => $val) {
                if (!isset($arrayTwo[$key])) {
                    $diff[$key] = 'MISSING IN ' . ($reversed ? 'FIRST' : 'SECOND');
                } else if (is_array($val) && (json_encode($arrayOne[$key]) !== json_encode($arrayTwo[$key]))) {
                    compareArrayValues($arrayOne[$key], $arrayTwo[$key], $diff[$key], $reversed);
                } else if ($arrayOne[$key] !== $arrayTwo[$key]) {
                    $diff[$key] = 'DIFFERENT';
                }
            }
        }

        $diff = [];
        $diffSecond = [];

        compareArrayValues($array1, $array2, $diff);
        compareArrayValues($array2, $array1, $diffSecond, true);

        print_r($diff);
        print_r($diffSecond);

        print_r(array_merge($diff, $diffSecond));

Result:

Array
(
    [0] => DIFFERENT
    [second] => Array
        (
            [a] => Array
                (
                    [test] => DIFFERENT
                    [z] => MISSING IN FIRST
                )

        )

    [b] => MISSING IN SECOND
    [1] => DIFFERENT
    [2] => MISSING IN FIRST
)

Compare them as other values:

if($array_a == $array_b) {
  //they are the same
}

You can read about all array operators here: http://php.net/manual/en/language.operators.array.php Note for example that === also checks that the types and order of the elements in the arrays are the same.

!=== will not work because it's a syntax error. The correct way is !== (not three "equal to" symbols)

If you want to check non associative arrays, here is the solution:

$a = ['blog', 'company'];
$b = ['company', 'blog'];

(count(array_unique(array_merge($a, $b))) === count($a)) ? 'Equals' : 'Not Equals';
// Equals

According to this page.

NOTE: The accepted answer works for associative arrays, but it will not work as expected with indexed arrays (explained below). If you want to compare either of them, then use this solution. Also, this function may not works with multidimensional arrays (due to the nature of array_diff function).

Testing two indexed arrays, which elements are in different order, using $a == $b or $a === $b fails, for example:

<?php
    (array("x","y") == array("y","x")) === false;
?>

That is because the above means:

array(0 => "x", 1 => "y") vs. array(0 => "y", 1 => "x").

To solve that issue, use:

<?php
function array_equal($a, $b) {
    return (
         is_array($a) 
         && is_array($b) 
         && count($a) == count($b) 
         && array_diff($a, $b) === array_diff($b, $a)
    );
}
?>

Comparing array sizes was added (suggested by super_ton) as it may improve speed.

function compareIsEqualArray(array $array1,array $array):bool
{

   return (array_diff($array1,$array2)==[] && array_diff($array2,$array1)==[]);

}

Try serialize. This will check nested subarrays as well.

$foo =serialize($array_foo);
$bar =serialize($array_bar);
if ($foo == $bar) echo "Foo and bar are equal";