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advanced patterns with PHP's array_unique when handling objects in an array

πŸ‘€ Views: 85 πŸ’¬ Answers: 1 πŸ“… Created: 2025-06-12
php array unique objects

I'm updating my dependencies and Quick question that's been bugging me - I've encountered a strange issue with Hey everyone, I'm running into an issue that's driving me crazy... I'm working with an scenario while trying to filter an array of objects using PHP's `array_unique`. I have an array of user objects, each with properties like `id`, `name`, and `email`. However, when I apply `array_unique`, it doesn't seem to behave as expected. Instead of returning unique users based on their `id`, I'm getting a list that includes duplicates. Here’s the relevant portion of my code: ```php class User { public $id; public $name; public $email; public function __construct($id, $name, $email) { $this->id = $id; $this->name = $name; $this->email = $email; } } $users = [ new User(1, 'Alice', 'alice@example.com'), new User(2, 'Bob', 'bob@example.com'), new User(1, 'Alice', 'alice@example.com') // duplicate object based on `id` ]; $uniqueUsers = array_unique($users); print_r($uniqueUsers); ``` The intention here was to get rid of duplicate users based on their `id`. However, `array_unique` is returning the whole array as is, without any filtering. I’ve tried implementing the `__toString` method in my `User` class to return the `id`, but that did not resolve the scenario. I also looked into using `array_filter`, but I’m unsure how to implement it effectively without complicating the logic unnecessarily. Could someone guide to understand why `array_unique` isn't working with my array of objects and suggest an alternative method to achieve my goal of filtering out duplicates based on `id`? For context: I'm using Php on Ubuntu. How would you solve this? For context: I'm using Php on macOS. I'd really appreciate any guidance on this. What am I doing wrong? For reference, this is a production application. Any help would be greatly appreciated! The project is a desktop app built with Php. I'm developing on Linux with Php. Cheers for any assistance!