Scott

Just a bit of fun, wondered which of these people like best for checking if an array is empty in #php? There's (debatably :D) no right answer...

#1 is short
#2 and #3 are very readable

Leaning towards #2 myself!

Hopefully I typed the example code properly lol. xD

Jul 19, 2025 at 1:20pmWeb
Show threadCédric BelinJul 19, 2025
@scottwhat I prefer #1 : I like terse code.
Show threadLarry GarfieldJul 19, 2025
@scottwhat I generally use 1, because I'm lazy. Arguably 3 is most correct(tm). Don't use 2.
Show thread𝖆𝖒𝖆𝖗𝖔𝖐Jul 19, 2025
@Crell
@scottwhat
I would write it like this:
´
if (count($array)) $emptyArray = false;
´
Seems my way of thinking is somehow different, I don't know 😁
Show threadLarry GarfieldJul 19, 2025
@amarok @scottwhat That's a reasonable compromise.
Show threadRomain C.Jul 19, 2025

@Crell @amarok @scottwhat first one also use implicit cast, by using `!`
Even when checking if an array is not empty with just `if($array)`, it an implicit cast. I always use a boolean value in condition.

So I will compare the array to an empty array or if number of elements is 0.

I think that will be future proof if any implicit cast / behavior change in PHP engine 🙂

Show threadScottJul 19, 2025
@velkuns @Crell @amarok Sounds good! A strict and future-proof comparison.
Show threadDaniël KlabbersJul 19, 2025
@Crell @scottwhat why don't you recommend 2?
Show threadLarry GarfieldJul 19, 2025
@luceos @scottwhat empty() has a lot of implicit behavior in it that uses extra weak typing. Lots of coding guides even say to avoid it.
Show threadScottJul 19, 2025
@Crell @luceos I think you've convinced me #3 is best here haha.
Show threadDaniël KlabbersJul 20, 2025
@Crell @scottwhat all those tutorials are based on an era before 8.0, implying hardly any type hinting. Code written these days ought to have clear type hinting and using empty on an array in that case makes perfectly sense from a readability side. Then take into consideration performance as well https://stackoverflow.com/a/2216159
Checking for empty arrays: count vs empty

This question on 'How to tell if a PHP array is empty' had me thinking of this question Is there a reason that count should be used instead of empty when determining if an array is empty or not? My

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Show threadScottJul 20, 2025
@luceos @Crell Interesting stuff, thanks! It's great that PHP offers more strict options now.
Show threadLarry GarfieldJul 20, 2025
@luceos @scottwhat Perf benchmarks have changed even more than typing. And the engine folks routinely make improvements so such micro optimizations are backwards from what they were previously. I wouldn't trust benchmarks from the 5.x era for anything. The engine was half rewritten since then.
Show threadDaniël KlabbersJul 20, 2025

@Crell @scottwhat recent benchmarks show the same results though, aside from the loose type checking, empty is fastest with the logical NOT having similar results. The strict comparison is slightly faster than count, but not faster than empty.

I personally hold on to using empty, as type hinting should be a standard nowadays in agreement to: https://phpc.social/@Crell/114869999327725709

Recent php 8.3 performance comparison: https://benjamincrozat.com/php-array-empty

Larry Garfield (@[email protected])

It's 2025. If your library still doesn't have types in it (parameter, return, and property), I assume it's abandoned and I should not use it. There are no exceptions to this statement. Not typing your PHP code in 2025 is irresponsible. No, docblocks are not good enough. #PHP

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Show threadGina Peter BanyardJul 19, 2025
@scottwhat You could also have `if ($array === [])` :)
Show threadScottJul 20, 2025
@Girgias I think this seems like a really great option as it specifically asks if the variable is an empty array. :)