array_push() vs. $array[] = .... Which is fastest?

Question

I need to add values received from MySQL into an array (PHP). Here is what I've got:

$players = array();

while ($homePlayerRow = mysql_fetch_array($homePlayerResult)) {
    $players[] = $homePlayerRow['player_id'];
}

Is this the only way of doing it?

Also, is the following faster/better?

$players = array();

while ($homePlayerRow = mysql_fetch_array($homePlayerResult)) {
    array_push($players, $homePlayerRow['player_id']);
}

Answer 1

It depends...

Documentation says,

"If you use array_push() to add one element to the array it's better to use $array[] = because in that way there is no overhead of calling a function."

Source: http://us2.php.net/array_push

So it boils down to how much data you want to cram into that array at any particular moment.

Additionally, there's a fall-back. If the array-referenced doesn't exist when you call it using array_push, you'll bump an error. If you use $array[], the array will be created for you.