php null showdown

nulltest

PHP Version 5.6.11

--------------------------------------------------
Testing null over 100,000 iterations:

control                            16.100883483887
!$value                            22.799968719482
isset($value)                      21.697998046875
null !== $value                    22.647142410278
!empty($value)                     22.5830078125
--------------------------------------------------
Testing empty string over 100,000 iterations:

control                            15.342950820923
!$value                            24.483919143677
isset($value)                      21.049022674561
null !== $value                    23.370981216431
!empty($value)                     23.261070251465
--------------------------------------------------
Testing string value over 100,000 iterations:

control                            14.435052871704
!$value                            24.092197418213
isset($value)                      21.024942398071
null !== $value                    23.869037628174
!empty($value)                     22.725105285645
--------------------------------------------------
Testing empty array over 100,000 iterations:

control                            14.801979064941
!$value                            24.636030197144
isset($value)                      22.125005722046
null !== $value                    25.100946426392
!empty($value)                     23.957014083862
--------------------------------------------------
Testing indexed array(3) over 100,000 iterations:

control                            15.141010284424
!$value                            22.420883178711
isset($value)                      24.151086807251
null !== $value                    25.124073028564
!empty($value)                     24.703979492188
--------------------------------------------------
Testing assoc. array(3) over 100,000 iterations:

control                            15.416145324707
!$value                            24.161100387573
isset($value)                      20.823001861572
null !== $value                    23.271083831787
!empty($value)                     23.849010467529

----------------------------------------------------------------------
               average (ms)        total (ms)          delta (ms)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
control        15.206336975098     91.238021850586     0
falsy          23.765683174133     142.5940990448      51.356077194214
isset          21.811842918396     130.87105751038     39.63303565979
null           23.897210756938     143.38326454163     52.14524269104
empty          23.513197898865     141.07918739319     49.841165542603

nulltest.php

<?php

$iterations = 100000;

$values = [
    'null'             => null,
    'empty string'     => '',
    'string value'     => 'string',
    'empty array'      => [],
    'indexed array(3)' => [1,2,3],
    'assoc. array(3)'  => ['one' => 1, 'two' => 2, 'three' => 3]
];

$totals = [
    'control' => 0,
    'falsy' => 0,
    'isset' => 0,
    'null'  => 0,
    'empty' => 0,
];

echo "PHP Version ".phpversion()."\n\n";

foreach ($values as $name => $value) {
    echo str_repeat('-', 50)."\n";

    echo "Testing {$name} over ".number_format($iterations)." iterations:\n\n";

    //-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    
    $start = microtime(true);

    for ($i = 0; $i < $iterations; $i++) {
    }

    $end = microtime(true);

    $duration = ($end - $start) * 1000;

    $totals['control'] += $duration;

    echo str_pad('control', 35)."{$duration}\n";

    //-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    
    $start = microtime(true);

    for ($i = 0; $i < $iterations; $i++) {
        if (!($value)) {}
    }

    $end = microtime(true);

    $duration = ($end - $start) * 1000;

    $totals['falsy'] += $duration;

    echo str_pad('!$value', 35)."{$duration}\n";

    //-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

    $start = microtime(true);

    for ($i = 0; $i < $iterations; $i++) {
        if (isset($value)) {}
    }

    $end = microtime(true);

    $duration = ($end - $start) * 1000;

    $totals['isset'] += $duration;

    echo str_pad('isset($value)', 35)."{$duration}\n";

    //-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

    $start = microtime(true);

    for ($i = 0; $i < $iterations; $i++) {
        if (null !== $value) {}
    }

    $end = microtime(true);

    $duration = ($end - $start) * 1000;

    $totals['null'] += $duration;

    echo str_pad('null !== $value', 35)."{$duration}\n";

    //-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

    $start = microtime(true);

    for ($i = 0; $i < $iterations; $i++) {
        if (!empty($value)) {}
    }

    $end = microtime(true);

    $duration = ($end - $start) * 1000;

    $totals['empty'] += $duration;

    echo str_pad('!empty($value)', 35)."{$duration}\n";

    //-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
}

echo "\n".str_repeat('-', 70)."\n";
echo str_pad('', 15);
echo str_pad('average (ms)', 20);
echo str_pad('total (ms)', 20);
echo str_pad('delta (ms)', 20)."\n";
echo str_repeat('-', 70)."\n";

$control = $totals['control'];

foreach ($totals as $name => $total) {
    echo str_pad($name, 15);
    echo str_pad($total/count($values), 20);
    echo str_pad($total, 20);
    echo str_pad($total - $control, 20)."\n";
}

echo "\n";