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A powerful tool to detect changes in array keys after JSON decoding

M66 2025-06-06

In PHP programming, the array_diff_ukey() function is often used to compare keys of two arrays and return key differences that exist in one array but not in another. This function is a very useful tool for array key comparisons, especially when processing JSON data. Through this article, we will explore how to use the array_diff_ukey() function to detect changes in array keys after JSON decode.

1. What is the array_diff_ukey() function?

array_diff_ukey() is a built-in function in PHP that compares the keys of two arrays and returns the keys in the first array but not in the second array. The basic syntax of a function is as follows:

 array_diff_ukey(array $array1, array $array2, callable $key_compare_func): array
  • $array1 : The first array.

  • $array2 : The second array.

  • $key_compare_func : A user-defined callback function used to compare the size of two keys.

This function returns an array containing all keys that appear in $array1 but not in $array2 .

2. Detect the change of array keys after JSON decoding

We can use array_diff_ukey() to detect the key changes of the array after JSON decoded through the following steps. Suppose you have two JSON data, representing data at different points in time. We want to check if the array keys after they are decoded have changed.

1. Decode JSON data

First, we need to decode the JSON data into a PHP array. Suppose we have two JSON data:

 $json1 = '{"id": 1, "name": "John", "age": 30}';
$json2 = '{"id": 1, "name": "John", "address": "New York"}';

We can decode them into PHP arrays via json_decode() :

 $array1 = json_decode($json1, true);
$array2 = json_decode($json2, true);

2. Compare array key changes

Next, we use array_diff_ukey() to compare the keys of these two arrays and detect the differences in the keys:

 $key_diff = array_diff_ukey($array1, $array2, 'strcasecmp');

Here, strcasecmp is a callback function used to compare array keys, which ignores the case of the key. You can define custom callback functions to compare keys as needed.

3. Results analysis

If the returned $key_diff array is not empty, it means that the array key has changed. Otherwise, the array keys have not changed. You can further process based on the difference array, such as recording the change key:

 if (!empty($key_diff)) {
    echo "The following keys are JSON Changes in the data:\n";
    print_r($key_diff);
} else {
    echo "JSON The data key has not changed。\n";
}

3. Summary

Through the array_diff_ukey() function, we can easily detect the changes in the array keys after JSON decode. This method can be applied to various scenarios, especially when dealing with different versions of API returns, helping developers track changes in data structures.

The above is an introduction to how to use the array_diff_ukey() function to detect changes in array keys after JSON decoding. I hope it will be helpful to you!