asdfasdfasdfas.php

<?php
private function blahblahblah(\DOMXPath $xpath)
{
  $node = $xpath->query('/some/valid/xpath/query')->item(0);
  
  if ($node === null) {
    // log message stating node wasn't found
    return '';
  }
  
  $text = $node->textContent;
  
  if ($text === '') {
    // log message stating node was found, but it was empty
    return '';
  }
  
  // proceed with code that processes $text
}

// vs.

private function asfasdfasdf(\DOMXPath $xpath)
{
  $node = $xpath->query('/some/valid/xpath/query')->item(0);
  
  if ($node === null || empty($node->textContent)) {
    // log message that node wasn't found or it was empty
    return '';
  }
  
  $text = $node->textContent;
  
  // proceed with code that processes $text
}