array_merge

• This function’s solution uses a Ruby Hash object since Ruby arrays don’t use associative key/value pairs. See Array for more details.

  In Ruby we typically wouldn’t merge an array. Since arrays are a simple ordered stack of elements in Ruby, merging is the same as appending the values to the end of the Ruby array.

  PHP

  // keys are renumbered
  $first  = array('first');
  $second = array('second', 'third');
  $result = array_merge($first, $second);
  var_export($result);
  // => array(0 => 'first', 1 => 'second', 2 => 'third')

  Ruby

  first  = ["first"]
  second = ["second", "third"]
  p first + second
  # ["first", "second", "third"]

  When working with an associative array (a hash in Ruby), merging in both PHP and Ruby replaces any existing elements with the same key.

  PHP

  $person  = array('name' => 'Walter', 'weight' => 184);
  $updates = array('weight' => 200, 'age' => 42);
  $result = array_merge($person, $updates);
  var_export($result);
  // => array('name' => 'Walter', 'weight' => 200, 'age' => 42)

  Ruby

  person = {:name => "Walter", :weight => 184}
  updates = {:weight => 200, :age => 42}
  p person.merge(updates)
  # => {:age=>42, :weight=>200, :name=>"Walter"}

  see also

  • array_merge_recursive
  • array_combine

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