PHP to count array and return 0 instead of empty

Question

<?php echo count($_SESSION['cart']); ?>

I'm trying to count array data in PHP session and it works great, but if there is no data yet in the session, it returns empty and warnings. How to make it return 0 instead?

Should I use if statement?

We can figure out the warning message, but that's normally not a good reason to omit it from the question. Error messages are diagnostic information to help coding. — Álvaro González
– Álvaro González, Commented Apr 19, 2020 at 11:29

Álvaro González · Accepted Answer · 2020-04-19 11:49:33Z

2

You can use the null coalescing operator and use an empty array as default:

<?php echo count($_SESSION['cart'] ?? []);

Another alternative is to just normalise session data whenever you create it for the first time. That makes everything easier because you can omit repetitive checks:

<?php
session_start();
if (!$_SESSION) {
    $_SESSION['cart'] = [];
}
echo count($_SESSION['cart']);

edited Apr 19, 2020 at 11:49

answered Apr 19, 2020 at 11:27

Álvaro González

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Vipin · Accepted Answer · 2020-04-19 11:21:11Z

0

$result = isset($_SESSION['cart']) ? count($_SESSION['cart']) : 0;
echo $result;

answered Apr 19, 2020 at 11:21

Vipin

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Daniel W. · Accepted Answer · 2020-04-19 11:21:21Z

0

You need to start the session first and should always use isset() on unknown variables (or keys of arrays).

<?php
session_start();

echo isset($_SESSION['cart'])
    ? count($_SESSION['cart'])
    : 0;

answered Apr 19, 2020 at 11:21

Daniel W.

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