In Ruby you can easily set a default value for a variable
x ||= "default"
The above statement will set the value of x to "default" if x is nil or false
Is there a similar shortcut in PHP or do I have to use the longer form:
$x = (isset($x))? $x : "default";
Are there any easier ways to handle this in PHP?
As of PHP 5.3 you can use the ternary operator while omitting the middle argument:
$x = $x ?: 'default';
As of PHP 7.0, you can also use the null coalesce operator
// PHP version < 7.0, using a standard ternary
$x = (isset($_GET['y'])) ? $_GET['y'] : 'not set';
// PHP version >= 7.0
$x = $_GET['y'] ?? 'not set';
$username = $_GET['user'] ?? $_POST['user'] ?? 'nobody';isset($x) or $x = 'default';
x = false; x ||= true; x #=> trueAs of PHP 7.4 you can write:
$x ??= "default";
This works as long as $x is null. Other "falsy" values don't count as "not set".
I wrap it in a function:
function default($value, $default) {
return $value ? $value : $default;
}
// then use it like:
$x=default($x, 'default');
Some people may not like it, but it keeps your code cleaner if you're doing a crazy function call.
I think your longer form is already the shortcut for php... and I wouldn't use it, because it is not good to read
Some notice: In the symfony framework most of the "get"-Methods have a second parameter to define a default value...
