Using a Static Class Method to *Quickly* Sort an Array By Key Value in PHP -

this question different others, it's focus on sorting array static class method rather typical procedural approach.

i performant way implement function sortbykeyvalue below. other related answers focused on getting job done, question more getting job done , getting done (as static method).

anyone want take crack @ it? i'll throw bounty on question squeeze out performance junkies. :)

<?php  $data = array(    array('name' => 'b', 'cheesy' => 'bacon'),    array('name' => 'c', 'delicious' => 'tacos'),    array('name' => 'a', 'lovely' => 'viddles'), );  class myarray {      public static function sortbykeyvalue($array, $key, $direction = 'asc') {         // thing         // me!          return $array;     }  }  $data = myarray::sortbykeyvalue($data, 'name');  // should output name key in order // not including garbage keys threw in, should there too) // [{"name": "a"},{"name": "b"},{"name": "c"}] ?> 

i ran following compare speed of multisort, pre-php 5.3 method, more modern method uses usort closure function:

$alpha = 'abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz'; $cnt = 1000; $key = 'name'; $direction = 'asc'; $array = array(); ($i=0; $i<$cnt; $i++){     $array[$i]['name'] = substr(str_shuffle($alpha), 0, 8);     $array[$i]['job'] = substr(str_shuffle($alpha), 0, 8); } $pre = $array;//the test dummies  //pre-php 5.3  $t[0] = -microtime(); $sub = array(); foreach ($pre $item) {         $sub[] = $item[$key]; } if ($direction == 'asc') $ord = sort_asc; else $ord = sord_desc; array_multisort($sub, $ord, $pre); $t[0] += microtime();  //usort closure  $t[1] = -microtime(); usort($array, function ($a, $b) use($key, $direction){     if ($direction == 'asc'){         return strcmp($a[$key], $b[$key]);     }     return strcmp($b[$key], $a[$key]); }); $t[1] += microtime(); var_dump($t); 

as can see, old method more twice fast:

array (     [0] => 0.005     [1] => 0.014001 ) 

so here's how class:

class myarray {      public static function sortbykeyvalue($array, $key, $direction = sort_asc) {         $sub = array();         foreach ($array $item) {             $sub[] = $item[$key];         }         array_multisort($sub, $direction, $array);         return $array;     }  }