Search an array for a key and output the value

I have a large array in PHP that has this snippet of data. Is there a way to search through an array and find the value of “date” without traversing through all the nodes?

It should be noted that “date” in itself isn’t unique but $subscription->schedule_next_payment->date is.

[schedule_next_payment] => WC_DateTime Object

(
    [utc_offset:protected] => 0
    [date] => 2021-01-29 14:26:43.000000
    [timezone_type] => 3
    [timezone] => Europe/London
)

Answer

If the array is sorted by date, you could perform a binary search.

If not, I’m afraid you need to either change the way you get the data (like changing database systems) or somehow handle having to loop through all that.