advanced patterns with PHP 8.1 and Nested Array Merging Using array_merge_recursive
I'm prototyping a solution and I'm working with an scenario with nested arrays when using `array_merge_recursive()` in PHP 8.1. I expected that merging arrays would combine their values but instead, I'm seeing unexpected results. Here's what I have: ```php $array1 = [ 'color' => ['red', 'blue'], 'size' => 'large' ]; $array2 = [ 'color' => ['green'], 'size' => 'medium' ]; $result = array_merge_recursive($array1, $array2); print_r($result); ``` The output I'm getting is: ``` Array ( [color] => Array ( [0] => red [1] => blue [2] => green ) [size] => Array ( [0] => large [1] => medium ) ) ``` I was expecting `$result['color']` to contain both red, blue, and green as a single array, but it looks like `array_merge_recursive()` is combining the values into separate arrays rather than merging them into one. I've read that this is the intended behavior of `array_merge_recursive()`, but it doesn't fit my use case. I want to keep the values in a flat structure. I also tried using `array_merge()` instead, but that gives me the following behavior when I try to merge arrays with both string and array values: ``` Warning: array_merge(): Argument #1 is not an array ``` Is there a way to achieve a flat merge of these arrays without losing any data? Iām open to using other functions or even writing a custom function if necessary. Any help would be greatly appreciated! The stack includes Php and several other technologies. Am I approaching this the right way?