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I have a dictionary loaded into an assoc array. Elements are sorted, and there are a million Items. The dictionary is in the form term = > definition. Would it be quicker to search for a definition by using array($term) to access the key, or doing a binary search on the array? Would it be quicker over single pass or multiple term searches?

Ahsan Sajjad
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  • Internally PHP uses a [hash table](https://nikic.github.io/2012/03/28/Understanding-PHPs-internal-array-implementation.html) to access an element in an array by key. Generally a hash lookup is faster that binary search, [but not always](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/360040/which-is-faster-hash-lookup-or-binary-search) – Brett Gregson Jan 24 '19 at 13:04
  • is hash table is linear way – Ahsan Sajjad Jan 24 '19 at 13:27

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If you have a million items, do not use an associative array, but use a database. The fastest way to access an array is isset()

Antonello Amici
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