What is so wrong with extract()?

by

I find that it is only bad practice in that it can lead to a number of variables which future maintainers (or yourself in a few weeks) have no idea where they’re coming from. Consider this scenario:

extract($someArray); // could be $_POST or anything

/* snip a dozen or more lines */

echo $someVariable;

Where did $someVariable come from? How can anyone tell?

I don’t see the problem in accessing the variables from within the array they started in, so you’d really need to present a good case for using extract() for me to think it’s worth it. If you’re really concerned about typing out some extra characters then just do this:

$a = $someLongNameOfTheVariableArrayIDidntWantToType;

$a['myVariable'];

I think the comments here on the security aspects of it are overblown somewhat. The function can take a second parameter that actually gives you fairly good control over the newly created variables, including not overwriting any existing variables (EXTR_SKIP), ONLY overwriting existing variables (so you can create a whitelist) (EXTR_IF_EXISTS), or adding prefixes to the variables (EXTR_PREFIX_ALL).

More Related Contents:

  1. Get min and max value in PHP Array
  2. how can I print multiple services in this way
  3. Prevent creating duplicate entries in PHP
  4. Remove Duplicates in array php
  5. Convert php array to Javascript
  6. PHP Sort a multidimensional array by element containing Y-m-d H:i:s date
  7. How to push both value and key into PHP array
  8. How to bind mysqli bind_param arguments dynamically in PHP?
  9. php multi-dimensional array remove duplicate [duplicate]
  10. How to detect duplicate values in PHP array?
  11. How to get last key in an array?
  12. Transpose 2d array, join second level with commas, and join first level with pipes
  13. PHP Objects vs Arrays — Performance comparison while iterating
  14. Merge two arrays containing objects and remove duplicate values
  15. Looping a multidimensional array in php
  16. How get value for unchecked checkbox in checkbox elements when form posted?
  17. Deep recursive array of directory structure in PHP
  18. why is $_REQUEST empty
  19. Using value of a column as index in results using PDO
  20. Keep Duplicates while Using array_diff
  21. Re-index numeric array keys [duplicate]
  22. Reverse array in php
  23. PHP – count specific array values
  24. Sort an array of associative arrays by column value
  25. Insert elements from one array (one-at-a-time) after every second element of another array (un-even zippering)
  26. How does array_diff work?
  27. Change array key without changing order
  28. Moving array element to top in PHP
  29. phpexcel Allowed memory size of 134217728 bytes exhausted [duplicate]
  30. PHP, pass array through POST

Leave a Comment