What are some recommended best practices for sorting arrays in PHP efficiently?

When sorting arrays in PHP, it is important to use the most efficient sorting algorithm available to avoid performance issues, especially with large datasets. One recommended best practice is to use the built-in `sort()` function for simple sorting needs. However, for more complex sorting requirements, consider using `usort()` with a custom comparison function. Additionally, utilizing array functions like `array_multisort()` can be beneficial for sorting multidimensional arrays efficiently. 

// Example of sorting a simple array using sort()
$array = [3, 1, 5, 2, 4];
sort($array);
print_r($array);

// Example of sorting a multidimensional array using array_multisort()
$students = [
    ['name' => 'John', 'age' => 25],
    ['name' => 'Alice', 'age' => 22],
    ['name' => 'Bob', 'age' => 27]
];

array_multisort(array_column($students, 'age'), SORT_ASC, $students);
print_r($students);

Keywords

usort uasort uksort array_multisort sorting algorithm

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