[PHP] Organizing a JSON Array

[Joe]

This is a neat little script that'll take a series of array objects, such as coordinate pairs, [123,123] and take all the nonsense out, and format them pretty, 4 to a row, lined up with tabs. I'm using it to get all the coordinates of mining nodes off of WoW head into an array for.. purposes. This could pretty easily be changed to sort any kind of array, though.

Code: [Select]

<?php

    if(!isset($_POST['array'])) {
        printf('<form act=' . $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] . ' method="POST">');
        printf('<textarea name="array" cols="100" rows="25"></textarea><br />');
        printf('<input type="submit" name="submit" />');
        printf('</form>');
    } else {
        $data = str_replace(" ", "", $_POST['array']);
        preg_match_all("(\[.*\],)", $data, $data);
        $data = explode("],[", implode("", $data[0]));
        
        printf("<pre>");
        for ($i = 0; $i < count($data); $i += 4) {
            printf("[%s],\t",  $data[$i + 0]);
            printf("[%s],\t",  $data[$i + 1]);
            printf("[%s],\t",  $data[$i + 2]);
            printf("[%s]\n", $data[$i + 3]);
        }
        printf("</pre>");
        
    }
    
?>

[rabbit]

asort/ksort + print_r

Stuff is built in for a reason :d

[edit]
1. Stop using printf, it's in PHP so you can auto typecast.
2. Stop using double quote strings for constant strings.
3. Stop using printf when you don't give it any arguments!
4. If you don't check preg_match_all result you might end up with null.
5. I just tested your code, and all it prints out is:

Code: [Select]

[], [], [], []
This will work much better, and it even does multiple levels of arrayness (though without tabs), and it just prints 1 item per line:

Code: [Select]

<?php

if(!isset($_POST['array']))
{
print '<form act=' . $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] . ' method="POST">';
print '<textarea name="array" cols="100" rows="25"></textarea><br />';
print '<input type="submit" name="submit" />';
print '</form>';
} else {
print '<pre>';
foreach(preg_split('/\][, \t]*\[/', $_POST['array']) as $item)
print (substr($item, 0, 1) != '[' ? '[' : '') . $item . (substr($item, -1) != ']' ? ']' : '') . "\n";
print '</pre>';
}

?>

[Joe]

Put in something like:

Code: [Select]

65: {
0: { count: 11, coords: [[8,42.5],[8,43.6],[8.1,42.4],[8.8,41.3],[9.8,41.1],[28.4,42.8],[29,42],[32.1,20.2],[32.4,21.5],[32.5,21.5],[34.6,33.8]] }
}
,67: {
0: { count: 253, coords: [[22.8,63.5],[23.4,56.2],[23.5,56.2],[24.1,48.2],[24.8,62],[24.8,69.3],[25,46.2],[25,57.5],[25.1,67],[25.2,44.5],[25.2,47.1],[25.2,49.4],[25.2,49.5],[25.3,68.3],[25.4,42.8],[25.8,58.2],[26,68.3],[26.1,67.4],[26.3,68.9],[26.6,67.3],[27,47.7],[27.1,50.4],[27.5,50],[27.6,58.4],[27.6,58.5],[28.1,61.3],[28.9,40.3],[29,43.7],[29,46.2],[29.2,63.9],[29.7,51.6],[29.8,46.8],[29.8,67.3],[29.9,42.9],[29.9,43.5],[29.9,45.3],[30,41.5],[30,64.1],[30.2,94.7],[30.4,45.7],[30.7,84.1],[30.7,86.3],[30.8,67.3],[30.9,42.7],[31,46.7],[31.4,65.2],[31.5,43.9],[31.8,81.8],[33,50.3],[33,67.3],[33.5,65.1],[33.8,39],[34.4,66.4],[34.4,71.2],[34.5,71.2],[34.6,47.8],[34.6,82.9],[34.6,88.7],[35.1,81.8],[35.2,67.9],[35.4,41.7],[35.4,66.8],[35.7,90],[35.9,63.8],[35.9,80.9],[36,68.5],[36,70.4],[36.1,68.4],[36.2,42.4],[36.2,42.5],[36.8,67.1],[36.9,44],[36.9,81.3],[37.2,67.6],[37.4,54.6],[37.5,69.8],[38.2,74.9],[38.2,80.2],[38.8,90],[39,88.3],[39.6,88.4],[39.7,75.9],[39.9,62.7],[39.9,74],[40,77.6],[40.1,50.1],[40.1,88.7],[40.4,74.5],[40.6,76.5],[40.9,73.6],[41,61],[41.2,51.2],[41.4,64.9],[41.5,74.1],[41.7,44],[41.9,66.2],[42.1,62],[42.1,64.4],[42.2,62.8],[42.5,32.9],[42.5,74.1],[42.6,63.8],[43,67.9],[43,74.7],[43.1,75.9],[43.2,76.5],[43.3,65.4],[43.3,69.9],[43.4,70.5],[43.5,74.7],[43.6,62.2],[43.7,43.6],[43.7,77.4],[43.8,68.3],[43.8,69.9],[43.9,60],[44,42.8],[44.1,34.3],[44.2,63.4],[44.2,63.5],[44.3,70.6],[44.3,77.5],[44.4,66.8],[44.5,40.1],[44.5,73.1],[44.7,67],[44.8,67.6],[44.9,76],[45.1,54.6],[45.1,74.1],[45.2,70.9],[45.7,64.9],[46,77.3],[46.1,73.6],[46.3,59.6],[47,77],[47.3,69.6],[47.4,72.6],[47.7,73],[48.1,74],[48.3,71],[48.4,71.7],[48.6,78.9],[48.8,73],[48.8,74.4],[49.6,33.8],[50.1,70.2],[50.2,71.1],[52.6,69.5],[52.9,65.8],[53.7,62],[53.7,63.2],[53.8,65],[54.1,61.2],[54.3,66.3],[55,71.2],[55,71.8],[55.1,62.3],[55.3,60.2],[55.3,63.9],[55.4,62.5],[55.8,64.1],[56,62.2],[56.7,63.2],[57,46.2],[57,62.1],[57.3,41.5],[57.4,44.1],[57.4,60.9],[57.5,60.9],[57.5,65.2],[57.7,42.6],[58,59],[58.1,70.2],[58.4,67.3],[58.7,47],[59,58.2],[59.1,65.3],[59.6,46.1],[59.7,42.4],[59.7,42.5],[60.2,57.5],[60.5,67.5],[60.8,66.8],[61,40.8],[61.8,46.6],[62.9,62.7],[63,59.5],[63.1,48],[63.3,64.2],[63.7,40.2],[63.8,58.9],[64.1,39.2],[64.2,65.8],[64.4,59.5],[64.5,49.4],[64.6,64.6],[64.8,41.5],[64.8,63.6],[64.9,39],[65,44.9],[65.2,59],[65.5,70.5],[65.7,63.6],[65.8,44.2],[66,42.8],[66,49.4],[66,61.9],[66.1,42],[66.4,40.1],[66.4,57.6],[66.4,58.9],[66.7,42.7],[66.9,60.9],[67,58.2],[67.1,43.7],[67.5,43.4],[67.6,63.4],[67.6,63.5],[67.7,48.2],[68,42.2],[68,58.3],[68.1,44.4],[68.1,44.5],[68.6,43.9],[68.7,40.7],[68.7,53.3],[68.8,41.9],[68.8,63.7],[69.4,51.1],[69.6,63.5],[69.7,50.9],[69.8,51.5],[71.2,63.9],[71.9,46.4],[71.9,55.3],[72.1,58.9],[72.2,57.3],[72.6,61.5],[72.9,52.6],[73.4,49.6],[74.1,70.3],[75.4,64.3],[75.5,64.3],[75.7,62.5],[76.8,61.8],[76.9,60.8],[77,60.2],[77,64.4],[77,64.5],[77.8,62.8],[80.1,72.6],[82,70.6]] }
}
,210: {
0: { count: 469, coords: [[27.5,63],[28,65.7],[28.8,62.7],[28.9,59.4],[29,64.3],[30.1,41.6],[30.3,41.2],[30.3,59],[30.8,69.4],[30.8,70],[30.9,56.3],[31.2,71.4],[31.3,35.6],[31.4,33.5],[31.4,49.1],[31.4,98.2],[31.5,33.5],[31.8,45.8],[32.2,34.9],[32.2,59.8],[32.2,96.1],[32.3,66.5],[33,59.5],[33.3,37.8],[33.3,71.2],[33.4,47],[33.4,66.6],[33.5,66.6],[33.7,47.7],[33.8,47.2],[33.9,29.9],[34.2,29.3],[34.5,71.6],[34.8,26.3],[34.8,67.7],[35.1,67.4],[35.1,69.9],[35.4,89],[35.5,89.1],[35.7,67.1],[35.8,28.7],[36.1,42.2],[36.1,66.4],[36.2,55.4],[36.2,55.5],[36.2,65.3],[36.3,52],[36.4,91.1],[36.5,65.9],[36.6,43.5],[36.6,52.3],[36.6,55.5],[36.7,55.3],[36.7,65.4],[36.7,92.6],[37,62.5],[37.1,42.5],[37.2,62.3],[37.4,34.6],[37.4,41.3],[37.5,34.5],[37.5,66.4],[37.6,48],[37.6,66.9],[37.7,34.2],[37.8,40.1],[37.9,57.4],[38.2,27.1],[38.2,38.4],[38.2,38.5],[38.2,55.4],[38.2,55.5],[38.2,67.8],[38.4,37.3],[38.5,27.1],[38.5,55.3],[38.5,56],[38.6,50.1],[38.8,26.3],[38.9,35.2],[39,57.9],[39.1,79.7],[39.2,37.6],[39.2,40],[39.2,90.2],[39.6,34.9],[39.6,48.9],[39.6,70.3],[39.7,87.3],[39.9,34.4],[39.9,48.3],[39.9,71.4],[40,36.6],[40,43.3],[40,63.7],[40.3,62.7],[40.5,37.5],[40.9,71.8],[41,41.4],[41,41.5],[41,64.4],[41,64.5],[41.1,48.5],[41.2,32.9],[41.2,46.3],[41.2,46.6],[41.2,48.4],[41.2,60.2],[41.3,36.9],[41.4,35.9],[41.4,44.4],[41.4,44.5],[41.4,52.9],[41.5,72.3],[41.6,53.1],[41.8,47.1],[41.9,34.1],[41.9,85.8],[42.1,35.6],[42.2,59.8],[42.3,35],[42.3,42.5],[42.4,42],[42.6,63],[42.7,38.2],[42.9,61.4],[42.9,61.5],[43.2,67.4],[43.3,46.9],[43.3,63.9],[43.4,46.4],[43.5,39.7],[43.9,63.8],[44.1,46.3],[44.7,37.2],[44.8,38],[44.9,26.8],[44.9,27.9],[45,56.2],[46.1,46.4],[46.1,94.7],[46.2,54.1],[46.4,47.1],[46.5,36.3],[46.6,37.6],[46.6,54.2],[46.6,83],[46.7,46.3],[46.8,54.6],[46.8,57.3],[46.9,37.4],[46.9,46.8],[47,71.1],[47,71.5],[47,81.1],[47.2,33.6],[47.2,50.2],[47.3,62.1],[47.5,52.2],[47.5,57.7],[47.5,70.4],[47.6,70.5],[47.7,81.3],[47.9,35.9],[47.9,53.4],[48,49.2],[48.1,57.4],[48.2,58.5],[48.4,36.6],[48.4,82.9],[48.5,31.9],[48.5,52.3],[48.5,58.8],[48.5,84.1],[48.6,36.4],[48.6,61.6],[48.7,56.4],[48.9,60.8],[49,56.9],[49,63.5],[49.1,30.6],[49.3,60.4],[49.4,63],[49.5,63.9],[49.5,82.1],[49.6,53.9],[49.7,81.1],[49.8,98.1],[49.9,46.4],[49.9,49.1],[50,47],[50,50.1],[50.4,53.1],[50.4,87.8],[50.6,35.6],[50.6,45.6],[50.6,53.5],[50.6,86.6],[50.8,85.7],[50.9,50.3],[51.3,42.4],[51.3,42.5],[51.5,87],[51.7,68.7],[51.9,62.8],[52,62.3],[52,90.2],[52,98.7],[52.1,69.5],[52.4,84.6],[52.5,45.1],[52.6,70.2],[53.5,27.1],[53.6,27.8],[53.6,87.4],[53.6,87.9],[53.6,91.5],[53.7,21.9],[54.1,59.9],[54.1,60.8],[54.2,23.9],[54.2,88.9],[54.5,25.1],[54.8,77.9],[54.8,79.5],[55,84],[55.4,23.4],[55.4,44.3],[55.5,23.4],[55.8,44],[55.8,84.9],[55.9,24.9],[55.9,85.5],[56,90.6],[56.1,35.1],[56.3,83.3],[56.3,84.4],[56.4,34],[56.4,44.5],[56.5,33.3],[56.5,90],[56.6,70.9],[56.7,43.9],[57,23.6],[57,24.8],[57.1,44.8],[57.1,85.7],[57.3,82.7],[57.4,28],[57.4,45.7],[57.4,76.1],[57.5,28],[57.7,39.4],[57.8,87.5],[57.9,38.3],[57.9,40.5],[57.9,46.4],[58,33.1],[58,68.7],[58.1,33.9],[58.2,24.8],[58.3,35.7],[58.3,42.4],[58.3,82],[58.4,40.3],[58.4,85.7],[58.5,40.3],[58.8,27.7],[58.9,43.6],[58.9,73.6],[59,33.4],[59,33.5],[59.3,30.9],[59.5,42.2],[59.6,35.4],[59.6,35.5],[59.8,22.4],[60,73.1],[60,74.1],[60.1,23.4],[60.1,23.5],[60.6,32.3],[60.6,44.4],[60.6,44.5],[60.7,89.5],[61,23.6],[61.6,35.7],[62,75.8],[62.1,48.6],[62.3,30.3],[62.3,34.6],[62.3,36.7],[62.3,63],[62.4,39.1],[62.4,51.1],[62.5,39.1],[62.5,50.4],[62.5,51.2],[62.5,65.4],[62.5,65.5],[62.7,47.7],[62.7,51.7],[62.7,52.5],[62.9,39.5],[62.9,80.5],[63,37.9],[63.1,54.6],[63.4,59.1],[63.4,60.1],[63.5,31],[63.5,47.9],[63.5,51],[63.6,64.4],[63.7,55.2],[63.7,81.2],[63.8,22.7],[63.8,35.6],[63.8,55.5],[63.8,85.1],[63.9,34.2],[64,20.3],[64,33.1],[64,39.9],[64.1,40.8],[64.3,37.5],[64.4,57.1],[64.7,41.6],[64.8,32.4],[64.8,32.5],[64.8,56.6],[65,56.4],[65.3,64.9],[65.5,57.1],[65.7,64],[65.7,64.8],[65.9,61.4],[65.9,61.5],[65.9,66.1],[66,30.1],[66,40.7],[66,46.8],[66,90.3],[66.1,62.7],[66.2,21.7],[66.2,40.2],[66.2,67.2],[66.3,74.5],[66.4,29.2],[66.4,47.7],[66.4,69.5],[66.5,47.7],[66.7,28.3],[66.7,35.4],[66.7,41.6],[66.8,35.5],[66.8,67.1],[66.9,48.6],[66.9,67.5],[67.1,70.4],[67.1,71.2],[67.3,64],[67.4,64.7],[67.5,46.8],[67.5,64.6],[67.5,72.9],[67.7,44.4],[67.7,45.2],[67.9,50.7],[67.9,65.8],[67.9,92.6],[68.1,30.4],[68.1,30.5],[68.1,45.8],[68.2,50.1],[68.4,63.2],[68.5,11.1],[68.6,40.2],[68.6,46.4],[68.6,46.5],[68.7,63.6],[68.8,37.6],[68.8,63.3],[69,54.8],[69.2,39.3],[69.3,69.7],[69.4,16.4],[69.4,16.5],[69.4,57.7],[69.5,80.1],[69.7,37.8],[69.8,70.4],[69.9,39.6],[69.9,70.7],[70.1,68.5],[70.2,39.3],[70.5,41.8],[70.6,44.9],[70.7,17.2],[70.7,69],[70.8,43.4],[70.8,64.5],[71,67.4],[71,67.5],[71,70.7],[71.3,45.5],[71.3,63.9],[71.5,64.5],[71.8,38.8],[72.1,63],[72.1,68.8],[72.3,17.4],[72.5,45.1],[72.5,69.7],[72.5,70.8],[72.6,52.7],[73.2,58.1],[73.7,56.7],[73.8,38],[74.1,39.6],[74.2,60.4],[74.2,60.5],[74.3,52.4],[74.3,52.5],[74.6,62.1],[74.6,63.8],[74.9,65.3],[75.4,42.9],[75.5,42.9],[75.7,38.4],[75.7,38.5],[75.9,66.2],[76,58.2],[76.3,68.6],[76.3,78.5],[76.4,70.7],[76.5,65],[76.5,70.8],[76.6,45.4],[76.6,45.5],[76.6,60.8],[76.8,48],[76.9,14.7],[77,49.4],[77,66],[77.2,49.9],[77.4,64.3],[77.5,63.8],[77.6,52.4],[77.6,52.5],[77.6,56.3],[77.7,64.7],[77.7,66.2],[77.8,48.7],[77.8,49.8],[78,41.5],[78.2,70.4],[78.2,70.5],[78.8,63.5],[78.9,63.4],[79.3,69.7],[79.6,62.4],[79.6,63.1],[80.3,59.3],[81.2,67.2],[81.6,64],[82.1,70.3],[82.3,68.7],[83.3,70.8],[84.6,70.9]] }
}
,2817: {
0: { count: 9, coords: [[23.8,19.9],[25,20.9],[26.6,17.6],[29.8,25.8],[32.4,28.9],[32.4,57.6],[32.5,28.9],[39.1,32.9],[40.7,33]] }
}
,3711: {
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[Blaze]

Should label this 'Organizing a JSON array'.

[Sidoh]

@Joe: did you know PHP has native support for parsing JSON?

http://us3.php.net/json_decode

Hopefully you're using PHP >= 5.2.0.  I think the extension is usually installed by default.

@rabbit: why are you such an intolerant dick?  Seriously, all of your comments were pedantic at best, and most were based on coding style preference that are functionally irrelevant.

printf is still useful.  I think it makes code much more readable if it's used properly.  For example:

Code: [Select]

printf('<form action="%s" method="POST">', $_SERVER['PHP_SELF']);

Of course this is easy to abuse and it can end up making code harder to follow, but if you're going to print out HTML like this, I'd argue that printf is the way to do it.

I use sprintf in my PHP pretty extensively because I think it makes it a lot clearer what's going to happen.

I always try to avoid echoing output.  My usual pattern is to store relevant information in a well-formatted structure, and just write HTML with <?= ?> where needed.

This is a bit of a matter of preference, but I've found it makes things quite a bit easier to deal when when projects get big.

[Joe]

That's pretty neat. Basically, this was for organizing data on Wowhead into a script for a bot.

[Sidoh]

That's pretty neat. Basically, this was for organizing data on Wowhead into a script for a bot.

Ah, okay.  Yeah, if you're pulling from their AJAX sources, they're likely JSON, so it's ridiculously easy to handle.

Also, you could probably use CURL to fetch a page instead of pasting the source in.  Check this out:

http://ulkesh.sidoh.org/public

Thrown together in 5 minutes with jquery and a CURL wrapper.  Of course you wouldn't need to do AJAX if you're going to submit the form and parse it.  Just submit the URL, grab the page, parse it, and print out what you're already printing out.

[rabbit]

@rabbit: why are you such an intolerant dick?  Seriously, all of your comments were pedantic at best, and most were based on coding style preference that are functionally irrelevant.

Nope.  Double quoted strings get passed through an additional parser which checks for complex syntax, so when not using complex syntax it's better to use single quoted strings.  Passing double quoted strings (without complex syntax) to printf (without any other arguments) is also less efficient than just using print with single quoted strings.  And how are the following "pedantic at best"?

4. If you don't check preg_match_all result you might end up with null.
5. I just tested your code, and all it prints out is:

Checking results of a function before using them and assuming they will work is one of the first things any course, book, or tutorial will teach.  Also, I copy and pasted his code and used a short string ("[1, 1] [2, 2] [3, 3], [4, 4]" IIRC) and I said what it printed out, which means something wasn't working properly.

I'd really like to know why you insulted me and my comments, especially when I was making specific comments which would apply to any situation and with any dataset of the general form "[value, value, ...]" (and when Joe didn't provide a data set in the first place).  Your remarks were disrespectful and unappreciated.

[Sidoh]

Double quoted strings get passed through an additional parser which checks for complex syntax, so when not using complex syntax it's better to use single quoted strings.  Passing double quoted strings (without complex syntax) to printf (without any other arguments) is also less efficient than just using print with single quoted strings.

There are af few obvious things that should be said:

1. I'm aware, and I'd imagine Joe is too.  The differences are only relevant if you're concerned about minute improvements.  Since this is just something of a personal convenience for him, there's no reason to care.  It doesn't make any sort of noticeable difference.
2. If you were actually concerned about efficiency, you wouldn't be using regular expressions...
3. Even if I grant you your silly corrections, it doesn't excuse the hostile way you presented them.

4. If you don't check preg_match_all result you might end up with null.

It's pedantic because his code serves as a tool for him to use.  It's not production code where you're sanitizing input and checking for valid format.  It doesn't matter.

5. I just tested your code, and all it prints out is:
Checking results of a function before using them and assuming they will work is one of the first things any course, book, or tutorial will teach.  Also, I copy and pasted his code and used a short string ("[1, 1] [2, 2] [3, 3], [4, 4]" IIRC) and I said what it printed out, which means something wasn't working properly.

Again, it doesn't matter if he's using it as a personal tool.  The first useful thing you learn is only implement something if it's worthwhile.  Error checking something like this is not worthwhile... if this was something he wrote that was meant to be used by the world, then I'd be more understanding.  However, you're just looking for things to criticize and being a dick instead of providing useful input.

I got the impression that it was because you weren't following the expected input syntax.

I'd really like to know why you insulted me and my comments, especially when I was making specific comments which would apply to any situation and with any dataset of the general form "[value, value, ...]" (and when Joe didn't provide a data set in the first place).  Your remarks were disrespectful and unappreciated.

I think I may have gotten the wrong impression of your post, and if that's the case, I apologize.  You seemed to look for problems in Joe's code instead of making worthwhile suggestions.  I'm aware that there can be some efficiency concerns with using double quotes, printf, etc., but none of them are relevant in this case.  It might be "good practice," but "good practice" comments are only helpful if you provide the motivation, and at least admit that it doesn't make a difference in this case.

I'm sorry for overreacting, but it makes my blood boil when I see someone being criticized for things that don't matter.

[Sidoh]

Joe, here is the aforementioned CURL wrapper.  I also provided an extension that caches the result for a fixed number of seconds.

http://ulkesh.sidoh.org/public/CURLClient.phps
http://ulkesh.sidoh.org/public/CURLCacheClient.phps

[rabbit]

I commented on things that popped to my attention in the order they did.  I didn't say "you're dumb for using printf" or "lol ur code sux".  I wasn't being insulting.  All I did was try to point out things that could be improved.

And replacing 3 lines of code, 1 including a regex function, with 1 line of code consisting of only 1 regex function, the net efficiency still increases.

It is is a production tool; he clearly stated he planned to use it for "purposes..." which he later clarified as "a bot".

And sanitization and checking should always be done, even if you remove them later once you're confident in it, and they should especially be present if you're going to release the snippet as something useful for others, as the other people might not know enough to figure out why it isn't working.

[Sidoh]

I commented on things that popped to my attention in the order they did.  I didn't say "you're dumb for using printf" or "lol ur code sux".  I wasn't being insulting.  All I did was try to point out things that could be improved.

I guess I got a little annoyed because it seemed like you were being ridiculously pedantic.  I still contest that most of your suggestions weren't very insightful, and if he were to make the changes, it wouldn't make any sort of noticeable difference.

And replacing 3 lines of code, 1 including a regex function, with 1 line of code consisting of only 1 regex function, the net efficiency still increases.

I'm saying that if you're concerned with things in the neighborhood of microseconds (as you would need to be to care about the difference in efficiency with print vs. printf, '' vs ""), then you'd never use regular expressions at all.

It is is a production tool; he clearly stated he planned to use it for "purposes..." which he later clarified as "a bot".

I got the impression that he was taking the data from WoWhead and putting it into a format he could use, not that the bot would make direct use of the script.  Even so, the difference in efficiency is completely negligible in this case.

And sanitization and checking should always be done, even if you remove them later once you're confident in it, and they should especially be present if you're going to release the snippet as something useful for others, as the other people might not know enough to figure out why it isn't working.

I completely disagree.  Sanitization and error checking should not be done if it's a waste of time.

I'm pretty sure you'd be able to tell what's going wrong given the output of the program if you don't do any explicit error handling.  If it was a harsher language, it might be nice to have some sanity checks in place, but here, I don't see any benefit.

Sure, it wouldn't hurt, but honestly, I don't think it'd help much either.  If someone can't figure out what's going wrong if there are no matches for the regular expression, then they're pretty lost overall...

[rabbit]

You'd rather use a whole bunch of string manipulation and checks than regex (which is the same thing done for you)?  Again, doesn't make much sense.  I don't know anything about WoW, but it sounded to me like this script would be called quite often to get new values of....stuff.

And there ARE proper ways to do things, and it's important to stick with it when you're in the early stages of a language.

[Sidoh]

You'd rather use a whole bunch of string manipulation and checks than regex (which is the same thing done for you)?  Again, doesn't make much sense.  I don't know anything about WoW, but it sounded to me like this script would be called quite often to get new values of....stuff.

No, I'd rather use json_decode, but that's beside the point.  If you're seriously concerned about efficiency, then using regular expressions is much more of a concern than using printf instead of print or "" instead ''.

Regular expressions are much cleaner and easier, but they're almost never the most efficient solution.  If I had to choose between writing my own parser for JSON and using regular expressions to parse a subset of JSON, of course I'd choose the regular expressions route (as long as I'm confined to this or a similar problem).  That's not what I said, though.  You seem to be all uppity about minutely more efficient code, so it just seemed a rather severe double-standard to go and use regular expressions after a mild tirade against using printf.

And there ARE proper ways to do things, and it's important to stick with it when you're in the early stages of a language.

Oh common.  I hope you realize how arbitrary "proper" is.  Is it more important that you're using the most efficient code possible, or is it okay if the code is negligibly less efficient, but far more readable and maintainable?  As long as you're not writing drivers, I'd argue that the readability and maintainability trump efficiency as long as the code you're comparing is only marginally less efficient.

I concede that there's no reason to use printf instead of print if you're not going to take advantage of the superset of features printf offers, but there's still not going to be a noticeable difference in performance...

[rabbit]

Fine, print vs printf aside, in his very first post he said it could be easily adapted to any kind of array, so assuming the input will be JSON formatted is bad.

And as for readability, comments exist for a reason, although they should be used to explain why, not how (I'll give you that one).  Additionally, changing " to ' boosts performance and doesn't mangle readability like you seem to be implying.

[Sidoh]

Fine, print vs printf aside, in his very first post he said it could be easily adapted to any kind of array, so assuming the input will be JSON formatted is bad.

No, not really.  He wrote a regular expression because he wasn't aware of the built in JSON capabilities.  In reality, it should be using json_decode.

If you're writing a generic parser, then regular expressions is a reasonable way to do it, but it's not the most efficient.  That's what I'm getting at.  I'm sure I'd elect to use regex instead of writing a lexer, tokenizer, parser, etc.  However, you were nitpicking on matters of efficiency, and it didn't seem appropriate to do that and use regular expressions in the same breath...

I'm pointing out a double-standard, not saying using regular expressions is inappropriate.

And as for readability, comments exist for a reason, although they should be used to explain why, not how (I'll give you that one).  Additionally, changing " to ' boosts performance and doesn't mangle readability like you seem to be implying.

Comments only go so far.  They don't make a hideously mangled line of code easier to follow or modify...

The performance boost isn't worth considering for almost all applications, and it can easily mangle readability.  If you're printing HTML, it's much easier to keep track of where you are and what quotes/braces need closed if you use printf instead of print with single ticks.

Of course I'm willing to grant that there's no reason to do

Code: [Select]

print "1234";
Instead of

Code: [Select]

print '1234';,

but I think it's absurd to bring it up as if it's going to make some sort of valuable difference in the code's performance.

[rabbit]

Well then fine, eat this: with single quotes in printing you won't have to escape all the double quotes for HTML entities.

[Sidoh]

Well then fine, eat this: with single quotes in printing you won't have to escape all the double quotes for HTML entities.

But you have to break the string to insert any sort of variable.  This is why I prefer printf.

[rabbit]

Well then fine, eat this: with single quotes in printing you won't have to escape all the double quotes for HTML entities.

But you have to break the string to insert any sort of variable.  This is why I prefer printf.

There are no variables in constant strings.

[Sidoh]

I'm talking about stuff like this:

print '<form act=' . $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] . ' method="POST">';

In this case, I don't think it makes any sort of difference, but I think you run into far fewer problems if you stick to doing something like this:


printf('<form action="%s" method="post">', $_SERVER['PHP_SELF']);


Amusingly, in this case, it's equivalent to just not specifying an action, but whatever. ;P

[Joe]

I don't know anything about WoW, but it sounded to me like this script would be called quite often to get new values of....stuff.

Maybe once a month, if that. This script was being used to generate coordinate pairs to put into a route file.

[iago]

Well then fine, eat this: with single quotes in printing you won't have to escape all the double quotes for HTML entities.

Html can have double or single quotes, so both of these are equally valid:

print "<a href='http://www.google.ca/'>";

print '<a href="http://www.google.ca/">';

[Chavo]

He's referring to the php rendering.  Single quotes are treated as string literals, double quotes are parsed for variables.  Citation

[iago]

He's referring to the php rendering.  Single quotes are treated as string literals, double quotes are parsed for variables.  Citation

You aren't wrong about the facts, but that's not at all what he said in the post I quoted. He talked about "escaping double quotes for HTML entities".

[Lance]

I don't want to necropost.. But what is wrong with heredoc?

[Blaze]

I don't want to necropost.. But what is wrong with heredoc?

They don't do anything better than other methods, and I'd be willing to bet 90%+ of php programmers don't know about that.

[rabbit]

I don't like to use heredoc because it screws with my tabbing.

[Lance]

I don't want to necropost.. But what is wrong with heredoc?

They don't do anything better than other methods, and I'd be willing to bet 90%+ of php programmers don't know about that.

With what Sidoh said regarding efficiency in this case I completely agree. If that is what you are pointing out, then I agree with you as well.

If you are saying heredoc is no better than single quoted or double quoted strings in any way, then I have to disagree. Heredoc does not require escaping for double quotes, or concatenation to use variables. Heredoc also looks better. A con is the tabbing, but tell me which is more readable:

Code: (Single Quoted) [Select]

       printf('<form action="' . $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'] . '" method="POST">');
        printf('<textarea name="array" cols="100" rows="25"></textarea><br />');
        printf('<input type="submit" name="submit" />');
        printf('</form>');


Code: (Double Quoted) [Select]

       printf("<form action=\"{$_SERVER['PHP_SELF']}\" method=\"POST\">");
        printf("<textarea name=\"array\" cols=\"100\" rows=\"25\"></textarea><br />");
        printf("<input type=\"submit\" name=\"submit\" />");
        printf("</form>");


Code: (Heredoc) [Select]

$form = <<<GGWP:
<form action="{$_SERVER['PHP_SELF']}" method="POST">
<textarea name="array" cols="100" rows="25"></textarea><br />
<input type="submit" name="submit" />
</form>
GGWP;
printf($form);


[Sidoh]

I still like ending PHP tags more.  Easier to structure things via spacing.

[Lance]

I still like ending PHP tags more.  Easier to structure things via spacing.

That works too! Very flexible, but it comes at the cost of having to open/close tags and echo/print for every variable.

[warz]

just another reason why PHP blows

[Sidoh]

I still like ending PHP tags more.  Easier to structure things via spacing.

That works too! Very flexible, but it comes at the cost of having to open/close tags and echo/print for every variable.

For me, that's not really much of a cost.  Things just look so much better when done this way, imo.

just another reason why PHP blows

Haha, I'll agree with that...

You're a python advocate, yes?  I've recently had to deal with python, and I can't say I like it.  It's so aesthetically icky. :[

Maybe I've just had a bad sampling.  I think perl is prettier than python!

[warz]

I swear by Python. I'm forced to used basically every language under the sun these days, for work, though.

I promise, get passed the tabbing, and Python is amazing. Granted, I don't use it for anything Windows related. All of my coding lately has been on Linux. =\

[warz]

oops. hit quote, not edit.

[Hitmen]

I think perl is prettier than python!

you have a very very strange definition of pretty

[Sidoh]

I swear by Python. I'm forced to used basically every language under the sun these days, for work, though.

I promise, get passed the tabbing, and Python is amazing. Granted, I don't use it for anything Windows related. All of my coding lately has been on Linux. =\

Yeah, it's probably just the fact that I'm not used to the structure paradigm.  I'll give it a fair shot one of these days...

I'm reasonably comfortable with most common languages.  I really should give python a chance.

I think perl is prettier than python!

you have a very very strange definition of pretty

haha.  I think it's the spacing.  It just kind of creeps me out.