How can PHP developers efficiently handle missing time values in a dataset, such as filling in the gaps with zero values?

When handling missing time values in a dataset, PHP developers can efficiently fill in the gaps with zero values by creating a new array with all the time values needed, then merging it with the existing dataset using array_replace. This ensures that all time values are present in the final dataset with zero values where data is missing.

// Sample dataset with missing time values
$dataset = [
    '09:00' => 10,
    '10:00' => 20,
    '12:00' => 30
];

// Generate all time values needed
$all_times = array_fill_keys(range('00:00', '23:59', '01:00'), 0);

// Merge the existing dataset with all time values
$filled_dataset = array_replace($all_times, $dataset);

// Output the filled dataset
print_r($filled_dataset);