[php] Fastest way to convert string to integer in PHP

Using PHP, what's the fastest way to convert a string like this: "123" to an integer?

Why is that particular method the fastest? What happens if it gets unexpected input, such as "hello" or an array?

Run a test.

   string coerce:          7.42296099663
   string cast:            8.05654597282
   string fail coerce:     7.14159703255
   string fail cast:       7.87444186211

This was a test that ran each scenario 10,000,000 times. :-)

Co-ercion is 0 + "123"

Casting is (integer)"123"

I think Co-ercion is a tiny bit faster. Oh, and trying 0 + array('123') is a fatal error in PHP. You might want your code to check the type of the supplied value.

My test code is below.

function test_string_coerce($s) {
    return 0 + $s;
}

function test_string_cast($s) {
    return (integer)$s;
}

$iter = 10000000;

print "-- running each text $iter times.\n";

// string co-erce
$string_coerce = new Timer;
$string_coerce->Start();

print "String Coerce test\n";
for( $i = 0; $i < $iter ; $i++ ) {
    test_string_coerce('123');
}

$string_coerce->Stop();

// string cast
$string_cast = new Timer;
$string_cast->Start();

print "String Cast test\n";
for( $i = 0; $i < $iter ; $i++ ) {
    test_string_cast('123');
}

$string_cast->Stop();

// string co-erce fail.
$string_coerce_fail = new Timer;
$string_coerce_fail->Start();

print "String Coerce fail test\n";
for( $i = 0; $i < $iter ; $i++ ) {
    test_string_coerce('hello');
}

$string_coerce_fail->Stop();

// string cast fail
$string_cast_fail = new Timer;
$string_cast_fail->Start();

print "String Cast fail test\n";
for( $i = 0; $i < $iter ; $i++ ) {
    test_string_cast('hello');
}

$string_cast_fail->Stop();

// -----------------
print "\n";
print "string coerce:          ".$string_coerce->Elapsed()."\n";
print "string cast:            ".$string_cast->Elapsed()."\n";
print "string fail coerce:     ".$string_coerce_fail->Elapsed()."\n";
print "string fail cast:       ".$string_cast_fail->Elapsed()."\n";


class Timer {
    var $ticking = null;
    var $started_at = false;
    var $elapsed = 0;

    function Timer() {
        $this->ticking = null;
    }

    function Start() {
        $this->ticking = true;
        $this->started_at = microtime(TRUE);
    }

    function Stop() {
        if( $this->ticking )
            $this->elapsed = microtime(TRUE) - $this->started_at;
        $this->ticking = false;
    }

    function Elapsed() {
        switch( $this->ticking ) {
            case true: return "Still Running";
            case false: return $this->elapsed;
            case null: return "Not Started";
        }
    }
}

More ad-hoc benchmark results:

$ time php -r 'for ($x = 0;$x < 999999999; $x++){$i = (integer) "-11";}'     

real    2m10.397s
user    2m10.220s
sys     0m0.025s

$ time php -r 'for ($x = 0;$x < 999999999; $x++){$i += "-11";}'              

real    2m1.724s
user    2m1.635s
sys     0m0.009s

$ time php -r 'for ($x = 0;$x < 999999999; $x++){$i = + "-11";}'             

real    1m21.000s
user    1m20.964s
sys     0m0.007s

Run a test.

   string coerce:          7.42296099663
   string cast:            8.05654597282
   string fail coerce:     7.14159703255
   string fail cast:       7.87444186211

This was a test that ran each scenario 10,000,000 times. :-)

Co-ercion is 0 + "123"

Casting is (integer)"123"

I think Co-ercion is a tiny bit faster. Oh, and trying 0 + array('123') is a fatal error in PHP. You might want your code to check the type of the supplied value.

My test code is below.

function test_string_coerce($s) {
    return 0 + $s;
}

function test_string_cast($s) {
    return (integer)$s;
}

$iter = 10000000;

print "-- running each text $iter times.\n";

// string co-erce
$string_coerce = new Timer;
$string_coerce->Start();

print "String Coerce test\n";
for( $i = 0; $i < $iter ; $i++ ) {
    test_string_coerce('123');
}

$string_coerce->Stop();

// string cast
$string_cast = new Timer;
$string_cast->Start();

print "String Cast test\n";
for( $i = 0; $i < $iter ; $i++ ) {
    test_string_cast('123');
}

$string_cast->Stop();

// string co-erce fail.
$string_coerce_fail = new Timer;
$string_coerce_fail->Start();

print "String Coerce fail test\n";
for( $i = 0; $i < $iter ; $i++ ) {
    test_string_coerce('hello');
}

$string_coerce_fail->Stop();

// string cast fail
$string_cast_fail = new Timer;
$string_cast_fail->Start();

print "String Cast fail test\n";
for( $i = 0; $i < $iter ; $i++ ) {
    test_string_cast('hello');
}

$string_cast_fail->Stop();

// -----------------
print "\n";
print "string coerce:          ".$string_coerce->Elapsed()."\n";
print "string cast:            ".$string_cast->Elapsed()."\n";
print "string fail coerce:     ".$string_coerce_fail->Elapsed()."\n";
print "string fail cast:       ".$string_cast_fail->Elapsed()."\n";


class Timer {
    var $ticking = null;
    var $started_at = false;
    var $elapsed = 0;

    function Timer() {
        $this->ticking = null;
    }

    function Start() {
        $this->ticking = true;
        $this->started_at = microtime(TRUE);
    }

    function Stop() {
        if( $this->ticking )
            $this->elapsed = microtime(TRUE) - $this->started_at;
        $this->ticking = false;
    }

    function Elapsed() {
        switch( $this->ticking ) {
            case true: return "Still Running";
            case false: return $this->elapsed;
            case null: return "Not Started";
        }
    }
}

integer excract from any string

$in = 'tel.123-12-33';

preg_match_all('!\d+!', $in, $matches);
$out =  (int)implode('', $matches[0]);

//$out ='1231233';

I personally feel casting is the prettiest.

$iSomeVar = (int) $sSomeOtherVar;

Should a string like 'Hello' be sent, it will be cast to integer 0. For a string such as '22 years old', it will be cast to integer 22. Anything it can't parse to a number becomes 0.

If you really do NEED the speed, I guess the other suggestions here are correct in assuming that coercion is the fastest.

You can simply convert long string into integer by using FLOAT

$float = (float)$num;

Or if you want integer not floating val then go with

$float = (int)$num;

For ex.

(int)   "1212.3"   = 1212 
(float) "1212.3"   = 1212.3

More ad-hoc benchmark results:

$ time php -r 'for ($x = 0;$x < 999999999; $x++){$i = (integer) "-11";}'     

real    2m10.397s
user    2m10.220s
sys     0m0.025s

$ time php -r 'for ($x = 0;$x < 999999999; $x++){$i += "-11";}'              

real    2m1.724s
user    2m1.635s
sys     0m0.009s

$ time php -r 'for ($x = 0;$x < 999999999; $x++){$i = + "-11";}'             

real    1m21.000s
user    1m20.964s
sys     0m0.007s

I personally feel casting is the prettiest.

$iSomeVar = (int) $sSomeOtherVar;

Should a string like 'Hello' be sent, it will be cast to integer 0. For a string such as '22 years old', it will be cast to integer 22. Anything it can't parse to a number becomes 0.

If you really do NEED the speed, I guess the other suggestions here are correct in assuming that coercion is the fastest.

Ran a benchmark, and it turns out the fastest way of getting a real integer (using all the available methods) is

$foo = (int)+"12.345";

Just using

$foo = +"12.345";

returns a float.

$int = settype("100", "integer"); //convert the numeric string to int

You can simply convert long string into integer by using FLOAT

$float = (float)$num;

Or if you want integer not floating val then go with

$float = (int)$num;

For ex.

(int)   "1212.3"   = 1212 
(float) "1212.3"   = 1212.3

integer excract from any string

$in = 'tel.123-12-33';

preg_match_all('!\d+!', $in, $matches);
$out =  (int)implode('', $matches[0]);

//$out ='1231233';

I personally feel casting is the prettiest.

$iSomeVar = (int) $sSomeOtherVar;

Should a string like 'Hello' be sent, it will be cast to integer 0. For a string such as '22 years old', it will be cast to integer 22. Anything it can't parse to a number becomes 0.

If you really do NEED the speed, I guess the other suggestions here are correct in assuming that coercion is the fastest.

Ran a benchmark, and it turns out the fastest way of getting a real integer (using all the available methods) is

$foo = (int)+"12.345";

Just using

$foo = +"12.345";

returns a float.

Run a test.

   string coerce:          7.42296099663
   string cast:            8.05654597282
   string fail coerce:     7.14159703255
   string fail cast:       7.87444186211

This was a test that ran each scenario 10,000,000 times. :-)

Co-ercion is 0 + "123"

Casting is (integer)"123"

I think Co-ercion is a tiny bit faster. Oh, and trying 0 + array('123') is a fatal error in PHP. You might want your code to check the type of the supplied value.

My test code is below.

function test_string_coerce($s) {
    return 0 + $s;
}

function test_string_cast($s) {
    return (integer)$s;
}

$iter = 10000000;

print "-- running each text $iter times.\n";

// string co-erce
$string_coerce = new Timer;
$string_coerce->Start();

print "String Coerce test\n";
for( $i = 0; $i < $iter ; $i++ ) {
    test_string_coerce('123');
}

$string_coerce->Stop();

// string cast
$string_cast = new Timer;
$string_cast->Start();

print "String Cast test\n";
for( $i = 0; $i < $iter ; $i++ ) {
    test_string_cast('123');
}

$string_cast->Stop();

// string co-erce fail.
$string_coerce_fail = new Timer;
$string_coerce_fail->Start();

print "String Coerce fail test\n";
for( $i = 0; $i < $iter ; $i++ ) {
    test_string_coerce('hello');
}

$string_coerce_fail->Stop();

// string cast fail
$string_cast_fail = new Timer;
$string_cast_fail->Start();

print "String Cast fail test\n";
for( $i = 0; $i < $iter ; $i++ ) {
    test_string_cast('hello');
}

$string_cast_fail->Stop();

// -----------------
print "\n";
print "string coerce:          ".$string_coerce->Elapsed()."\n";
print "string cast:            ".$string_cast->Elapsed()."\n";
print "string fail coerce:     ".$string_coerce_fail->Elapsed()."\n";
print "string fail cast:       ".$string_cast_fail->Elapsed()."\n";


class Timer {
    var $ticking = null;
    var $started_at = false;
    var $elapsed = 0;

    function Timer() {
        $this->ticking = null;
    }

    function Start() {
        $this->ticking = true;
        $this->started_at = microtime(TRUE);
    }

    function Stop() {
        if( $this->ticking )
            $this->elapsed = microtime(TRUE) - $this->started_at;
        $this->ticking = false;
    }

    function Elapsed() {
        switch( $this->ticking ) {
            case true: return "Still Running";
            case false: return $this->elapsed;
            case null: return "Not Started";
        }
    }
}

I personally feel casting is the prettiest.

$iSomeVar = (int) $sSomeOtherVar;

Should a string like 'Hello' be sent, it will be cast to integer 0. For a string such as '22 years old', it will be cast to integer 22. Anything it can't parse to a number becomes 0.

If you really do NEED the speed, I guess the other suggestions here are correct in assuming that coercion is the fastest.

$int = settype("100", "integer"); //convert the numeric string to int