How to check if two arrays contain the same values?

Question

I have two arrays and I have to compare them against each other:

$a = array('BRANCH','ADDRESS','MOBILE','NAME');
$b = array('BRANCH','ADDRESS','MOBILE','NAME');

$a == $b → true

But when the values are in a different order, this comparison doesn't work:

$a = array('BRANCH','ADDRESS','MOBILE','NAME');
$b = array('NAME','BRANCH','MOBILE','ADDRESS');

$a == $b → false

How do i compare these two arrays to see if both contain the same values, regardless of their order?

your question is a duplicate of this http://stackoverflow.com/questions/901815/php-compare-array — Vanya Avchyan, Jul 28 '16 at 07:05

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 28 '16 at 07:06

5

I would do array_diff() which check difference between two arrays.

$areEqual = array_diff($a, $b) === array_diff($b, $a);

or

$areEqual = !(array_diff($a, $b) || array_diff($b, $a));

answered Jul 28 '16 at 07:06

Robert

anju · Answer 2 · 2016-07-28T07:07:15.483

0

sort($a);
sort($b);
if ($a==$b) {
echo "arraysAreEqual";
}

edited Jul 28 '16 at 07:07

answered Jul 28 '16 at 06:59

anju

Valid approach, but it alters the original arrays, which may be undesirable. – deceze Jul 28 '16 at 07:11

2 Answers2