Types
Re: andy at txtnation dot com
<quote> The braces are of course optional </quote>
Nothing optional about the 'braces' here.
'( )' are parentheses. '{ }' are braces. But we get the point.
<?php
$num = 10;
$isEven = !($num % 2);
echo ($isEven) ? 'Even' : 'Odd';
//outputs : Even
$isEven = !$num % 2;
echo ($isEven) ? 'Even' : 'Odd';
//outputs : Odd (with ANY number != 0 !!)
?>
Operator precedence and implicit casts at work:
$num = 10;
!$num => (implicit cast to bool) $num: (bool) 10 = true
!true => negate true : false
false % 2 => (implicit cast to int) false : (int) false = 0
0 % 2 => remainder of 0 intdiv 2 : 0
$isEven = 0 => integer assignment : 0
($isEven) ? => (implicit cast to bool) 0 : (bool) 0 = false
echo (false) ? 'Even' : 'Odd' => condition false : 'Odd'
Wether or not PHP actually performs the (bool) casts under the hood is irrelevant to the outcome here.
This is the easiest type. A boolean expresses a truth value. It can be either TRUE or FALSE.
Note: The boolean type was introduced in PHP 4.
To specify a boolean literal, use either the keyword TRUE or FALSE. Both are case-insensitive.
<?php
$foo = True; // assign the value TRUE to $foo
?>
Usually you use some kind of operator which returns a boolean value, and then pass it on to a control structure.
<?php
// == is an operator which test
// equality and returns a boolean
if ($action == "show_version") {
echo "The version is 1.23";
}
// this is not necessary...
if ($show_separators == TRUE) {
echo "<hr>\n";
}
// ...because you can simply type
if ($show_separators) {
echo "<hr>\n";
}
?>
To explicitly convert a value to boolean, use either the (bool) or the (boolean) cast. However, in most cases you do not need to use the cast, since a value will be automatically converted if an operator, function or control structure requires a boolean argument.
See also Type Juggling.
When converting to boolean, the following values are considered FALSE:
Every other value is considered TRUE (including any
resource).
Warning
-1 is considered TRUE, like any other non-zero (whether negative or positive) number!
<?php
var_dump((bool) ""); // bool(false)
var_dump((bool) 1); // bool(true)
var_dump((bool) -2); // bool(true)
var_dump((bool) "foo"); // bool(true)
var_dump((bool) 2.3e5); // bool(true)
var_dump((bool) array(12)); // bool(true)
var_dump((bool) array()); // bool(false)
var_dump((bool) "false"); // bool(true)
?>
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User Contributed NotesBooleans
Schraalhans Keukenmeester
23-May-2007 05:03
23-May-2007 05:03
terminatorul at gmail dot com
29-Apr-2007 09:21
29-Apr-2007 09:21
Beware that "0.00" converts to boolean TRUE !
You may get such a string from your database, if you have columns of type DECIMAL or CURRENCY. In such cases you have to explicitly check if the value is != 0 or to explicitly convert the value to int also, not only to boolean.
12-Mar-2007 03:45
Jasper probably meant:
$a = 2;
$b = 3;
$aBiggerThanB = $a > $b;
andy at txtnation dot com
25-Feb-2007 05:31
25-Feb-2007 05:31
Re: comment from jasper at jtey dot com
It is better to not explicitly test for default values. PHP knows the default values, and so should any programmer worth her/his salt.
Same example rewritten:
<?php
$num = 10;
$isEven = !($num % 2);
?>
The braces are off course optional.
jasper at jtey dot com
05-Jun-2006 07:51
05-Jun-2006 07:51
The following expressions are equivalent:
<?php
// setting true
$flag = true;
$flag = True;
$flag = TRUE;
$flag = 1==1;
// setting false
$flag = false;
$flag = False;
$flag = FALSE;
$flag = 1==2;
?>
The moral of the story is that boolean operators return a boolean value, i.e., "1==1" returns a boolean value of true. Someone who is not aware of this may write a block of code such as:
<?php
// even number?
$num = 10;
if($num % 2 == 0){
$isEven = true;
}
else{
$isEven = false;
}
?>
when all that is needed is:
<?php
$num = 10;
$isEven = $num % 2 == 0;
?>
Other examples, for illustrative purposes:
<?php
// two numbers
$a = 2;
$b = 3;
$aBiggerThanB = 2 > 3; // $aBiggerThanB is set to false
// lower case vowel check (corrected)
$c = "u";
$isVowel = $c == "a"|| $c == "e"|| $c == "i"|| $c == "o"|| $c == "u";
?>