array_key_exists on $GLOBALS takes linear time in PHP 8.1.0+
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Description
Description
Compare the following in PHP 8.0.22 vs 8.1.9 (https://3v4l.org/91CFl)
<?php
for ($i = 0; $i < 100000; $i++) {
$GLOBALS["a$i"] = rand(0, 1000000);
}
$start = microtime(true);
for ($runs = 1000; $runs > 0; $runs--) {
array_key_exists('a1111111', $GLOBALS);
}
$end = microtime(true);
printf("[GLOBALS]array_key_exists() took %.5f seconds\n", $end - $start);
It takes 0.00002 seconds in 8.0.22, and 1.9 seconds in 8.1.9.
Further testing makes it clear that the speed of array_key_exists on $GLOBALS increases linearly with the size of $GLOBALS.
This regression doesn't affect array_key_exists on non-$GLOBALS arrays, and doesn't affect the speed of isset($GLOBALS[$foo]).
The commit that introduced the slowdown was https://github.com/php/php-src/commit/3c68f38fdaec7a6f81f986a639bdd29716cf8f22, which restricted usage of $GLOBALS in various ways. I'm not sure if this particular side effect was known or intended.
array_key_exists is used somewhat often on $GLOBALS in MediaWiki, most prominently here.
The behavior can be mostly replaced by calling isset($GLOBALS[$foo]), which remains fast, although that has different semantics when the value is null. I'm not aware of a better way to get the full behavior of array_key_exists($foo, $GLOBALS) in constant-time in 8.1+.
PHP Version
PHP 8.1.9
Operating System
Ubuntu 20.04
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Reproduce the PHP 8.0.22/8.1.9 benchmark from the issue, then inspect commit 3c68f38fdaec7a6f81f986a639bdd29716cf8f22, which restricted $GLOBALS usage. Done means array_key_exists($foo, $GLOBALS) no longer scales linearly with the size of $GLOBALS while preserving its null-value semantics; compare the result with isset behavior.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- c, php
- Domain
- backend, performance
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 35/100