CODEWITHSUNDEEP
php
rockstardev
rockstardev

Reputation: 13527

Is it okay to create PHP variables this way?

Consider:

 $snode->field_length = array();
 $snode->field_length['und'] = array();
 $snode->field_length['und'][0] = array();
 $snode->field_length['und'][0]['value'] = 5;

Versus just writing:

 $snode->field_length['und'][0]['value'] = 5;

In the second case, you are assigning to fields that don't exist. However, PHP doesn't complain. Does that mean it's okay to code like this?

Upvotes: 2

Views: 89

Answers (2)

mchurichi
mchurichi

Reputation: 393

Yes, it is ok, but maybe is not the clearest way to write it.

PHP has dynamic typing, so it is not necessary to specify the type of a variable before using it, because the interpreter is responsible for inferring what type you're trying to assign at runtime.

I would consider using array intializers:

$snode->field_length = array(
    'und' => array(
        array(
            'value' => 5
        )
    )
);

Or, even better, in PHP >= 5.4:

$snode->field_length = [
    'und' => [
        [
            'value' => 5
        ]
    ]
];

Upvotes: 4

Carlos
Carlos

Reputation: 68

Yes, you can do as @mchurichi answers says but if there's the case, when you don't know the previous value, use array_merge or array_merge_recursive:

if(!is_array($snode->field_length)){
    $snode->field_length = array();
}

$snode->field_length = array_merge_recursive($snode->field_length, array(
    'und' => array(
        array(
            'value' => 5
        )
    )
));

Upvotes: 1

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