I also get confused how to check if a variable is false/null when returned from a function.
When to use empty() and when to use isset() to check the condition ?
For returns from functions, you use neither isset nor empty, since those only work on variables and are simply there to test for possibly non-existing variables without triggering errors.
For function returns checking for the existence of variables is pointless, so just do:
if (!my_function()) {
// function returned a falsey value
}
To read about this in more detail, see The Definitive Guide To PHP's isset And empty.
ISSET checks the variable to see if it has been set, in other words, it checks to see if the variable is any value except NULL or not assigned a value. ISSET returns TRUE if the variable exists and has a value other than NULL. That means variables assigned a " ", 0, "0", or FALSE are set, and therefore are TRUE for ISSET.
EMPTY checks to see if a variable is empty. Empty is interpreted as: " " (an empty string), 0 (0 as an integer), 0.0 (0 as a float), "0" (0 as a string), NULL, FALSE, array() (an empty array), and "$var;" (a variable declared, but without a value in a class.
Isset() checks if a variable has a value including ( False , 0 , or Empty string) , But not NULL. Returns TRUE if var exists; FALSE otherwise.
On the other hand the empty() function checks if the variable has an empty value empty string , 0, NULL ,or False. Returns FALSE if var has a non-empty and non-zero value.
empty() is an evil.It is slow,and when $v queals false,0,'0',array(),'',it will return true.if you need this kind of checking,you can use if ($v).
Checking variable ( a few examples )
if(is_null($x) === true) // null
if($x === null) // null
if($x === false)
if(isset($x) === false) // variable undefined or null
if(empty($x) === true) // check if variable is empty (length of 0)
isset — Determine if a variable is set and is not NULL
$a = "test";
$b = "anothertest";
var_dump(isset($a)); // TRUE
var_dump(isset($a, $b)); // TRUE
unset ($a);
var_dump(isset($a)); // FALSE
empty — Determine whether a variable is empty
<?php
$var = 0;
// Evaluates to true because $var is empty
if (empty($var)) {
echo '$var is either 0, empty, or not set at all';
}
// Evaluates as true because $var is set
if (isset($var)) {
echo '$var is set even though it is empty';
}
?>