Functions and parameters

h4x0rmx

Simple question...
I have a query from a database that pulls about 14 fields from a table with $row = mysql_fetch_array($res);

I have a bunch of functions that use this info.
What would it be better?
1) To pass the whole $row array to every function even though they will only use less than half of the array:
recordExists($row);

or
2) Pass to the function only the data that it will use:
recordExists($row['id'], $row['name'], $row['date'], $['time'], $row['apt_id']);

It might sound trivial, but I have at least 4 functions that would work this way and they get called at least 1,000 times each... so in the end, doing it in the more effective way would increase the performance of my script (I'm guessing, I don't know)

Any ideas?

laserlight

Do you need all 14 fields retrieved at some point or another?

h4x0rmx

laserlight;10909878 wrote:
Do you need all 14 fields retrieved at some point or another?

Good point... probably not all of them at this moment, so I can modify my query... but what if I needed them somewhere else?
What would you recommend?

laserlight

h4x0rmx wrote:
What would you recommend?

I recommend writing functions that do one thing and do it well. This means that the function would only require those parameters that it needs to do its job.

However, this does not necessarily mean that you should pass the id, name, etc individually. It may be the case that you should design a class to encapsulate these data into an object, then pass the object to the function.

h4x0rmx

Does it make much of a difference as far as performance goes?

laserlight

h4x0rmx wrote:
Does it make much of a difference as far as performance goes?

Not likely in the overall scheme of things, in my opinion, but if you really want to know, you should measure and find out.

SunsetKnight

Not sure if this is on track with what your trying to do, but you could retrieve the whole row into an array, and pass the entire array into your functions. Then have the functions parse the information from the array that they need?

laserlight

SunsetKnight wrote:
Not sure if this is on track with what your trying to do, but you could retrieve the whole row into an array, and pass the entire array into your functions. Then have the functions parse the information from the array that they need?

That is precisely what is meant by "pass the whole $row array to every function".

SunsetKnight

Ahh okay now I'm on track, so possibly like you were saying, create a class that will encapsulate this data, then pass an instantiation of this class to the functions might do well. No idea how this will effect performance either though, worth a try I guess.