You know how, in JavaScript, we can set a value to a variable if one doesn't, like this:
name = name || 'joe';
This is quite common and very helpful. Another option is to do:
name || (name = 'joe');
Well, in PHP, that doesn't work. What many do is:
if ( empty($name) ) $name = 'joe';
Which works...but it's a bit verbose. My preference, at least for checking for empty strings, is:
$name = $name ?: 'joe';
What's your preference for setting values if they don't already exist?
@zecho yep, and here is the source misunderstanding:
$name = null
initializes variable. Withnull
value.In
var_dump($name);
is a proper statement and will return:Without any exception/notice. And
Will successfully output
Without any exception/notice. Because
null
is a proper value of any variable.