CODEWITHSUNDEEP
phpoperator-precedencenull-coalescing-operator
Sofia Grillo
Sofia Grillo

Reputation: 481

Unexpected priority of comparison operator over null coalesce operator

I don't understand why this happens: 

$var = 'x';
var_dump($var ?? '' == 'somevalue');

It outputs string(1) "x", while one should expect bool(false).

What is the reason behind this?

To imagine a use case, think for example at:

// I want to do something only if the optional_parameter is equal to somevalue
if($_GET['optional_parameter'] ?? '' == 'somevalue') { 
    ...
}

Upvotes: 5

Views: 598

Answers (1)

konrados
konrados

Reputation: 1141

It's a matter of operator precedence, try:

$var = 'x';
var_dump(($var ?? '') == 'somevalue');

More: http://php.net/manual/en/language.operators.precedence.php

Plus a general advice: there is never too many parens! :) If you're not sure what is calculated first in a given language - use them!

Upvotes: 5

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