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phpissetshorthand

PHP shorthand for isset()?

Is there a shorthand way to assign a variable to something if it doesn't exist in PHP?

if(!isset($var) {
  $var = "";
}

I'd like to do something like

$var = $var | "";
Solution

  • Update for PHP 7 (thanks shock_gone_wild)

    PHP 7 introduces the null coalescing operator which simplifies the below statements to:

    $var = $var ?? "default";

    Before PHP 7

    No, there is no special operator or special syntax for this. However, you could use the ternary operator:

    $var = isset($var) ? $var : "default";

    Or like this:

    isset($var) ?: $var = 'default';