PHP Difference between array() and []
Following [] is supported in PHP >= 5.4:
['name' => 'test', 'id' => 'theID']This is a short syntax only and in PHP < 5.4 it won't work.
As of 2019, it has been 7 years since the [] syntax was added. That is long enough to drop array() except in old legacy programs, in my opinion.
If you are using 5.3 or previous version then you can't use [] as an array as well as associative array. If you are using 5.4 or later version of PHP then you can use either array() or [] to create an array, associative array or even multidimensional array.