explode vs sscanf benchmark

explode_vs_sscanf_benchmark.php

<?php

// Test for one case: exploding string by space to two parts

function rand_str() {
    return substr(str_shuffle("0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ"), 0, rand(10, 20));
}

$strs = [];
for ($i = 0; $i < 100000; $i++) {
    $strs[] = rand_str() . ' ' . rand_str();
}

function list_explode($str) {
    list($a, $b) = explode(' ', $str, 2);
    return [$a, $b];
}

function list_sscanf($str) {
    list($a, $b) = sscanf($str, '%s %s');
    return [$a, $b];
}

function sscanf_var($str) {
    $a = $b = '';
    sscanf($str, '%s %s', $a, $b);
    return [$a, $b];
}

function test() {
    $s = 'abc xyz';
    $r = ['abc', 'xyz'];

    if ($r !== list_explode($s)) {
        return 'list_explode';
    }

    if ($r !== list_sscanf($s)) {
        return 'list_sscanf';
    }

    if ($r !== sscanf_var($s)) {
        return 'sscanf_var';
    }

    return '';
}

if ($e = test()) {
    die($e);
}

function benchmark($strs, $function) {
    $st = microtime(1);
    array_walk($strs, $function);
    $t = microtime(1) - $st;
    return $t;
}

$fs = ['list_explode', 'list_sscanf', 'sscanf_var'];
shuffle($fs);
foreach ($fs as $f) {
    echo $f . ': ' . benchmark($strs, $f) . ' ms' . PHP_EOL;
}

// sscanf_var: 0.38089799880981 ms
// list_explode: 0.39630103111267 ms
// list_sscanf: 0.42301893234253 ms

// list_explode: 0.38005208969116 ms
// sscanf_var: 0.38540816307068 ms
// list_sscanf: 0.41617298126221 ms

// sscanf_var: 0.38568210601807 ms
// list_explode: 0.40334486961365 ms
// list_sscanf: 0.43618392944336 ms

// sscanf_var: 0.36920094490051 ms
// list_explode: 0.38223195075989 ms
// list_sscanf: 0.41423678398132 ms

// So, results are (from fastest to slowest)
// 1. sscanf
// 2. list+explode
// 3. list+sscanf

// The same results for exploding to four parts