codeigniter, result() vs. result_array()

Result has an optional $type parameter which decides what type of result is returned. By default ($type = "object"), it returns an object (result_object()). It can be set to "array", then it will return an array of result, that being equivalent of caling result_array(). The third version accepts a custom class to use as a result object.

The code from CodeIgniter:

/**
* Query result. Acts as a wrapper function for the following functions.
*
* @param string $type 'object', 'array' or a custom class name
* @return array
*/
public function result($type="object")
{
    if ($type === 'array')
    {
        return $this->result_array();
    }
    elseif ($type === 'object')
    {
        return $this->result_object();
    }
    else
    {
        return $this->custom_result_object($type);
    }
}

Arrays are technically faster, but they are not objects. It depends where do you want to use the result. Most of the time, arrays are sufficient.