How to handle a PHP switch with different types?

Question

How can I make the switch respect data types ( is there a workaround better then if/else ) ?

$value = false; // should echo false

$value = null; // should echo null

switch ($value) {
    case '0' :
        echo 'zero';
        break;
    case '' :
        echo 'empty';
        break;
    case null :
        echo 'null';
        break;
    case false :
        echo 'false';
        break;
    default :
        echo 'default';
        break;
}

Conclusion

Switch/case does loose comparison.

Solutions: switch with ifs or if/else

Answer 1

switch (true) {
    case $value === '0' :
        echo 'zero';
        break;
    case $value === '' :
        echo 'empty';
        break;
    case $value === null :
        echo 'null';
        break;
    case $value === false :
        echo 'false';
        break;
    default :
        echo 'default';
        break;
}

I think, it's more readable than a if-elseif-chain like given below:

if ($value === '0') {
  echo 'zero';
} else if ($value === '') {
  echo 'empty';
} else if ($value === null) {
  echo 'null';
} else if ($value === false) {
  echo 'false';
} else {
  echo 'default';
}

Answer 2

i believe you can try if-then to facilitate the use of '===' instead:

<?php
$value = 0;

if ($value==="") {
  echo "blank (string)";
}
else
if ($value==="0") {
  echo "zero (string)";
}
else
if ($value===false) {
  echo "false (boolean)";
}
else
if ($value===null) {
  echo "null (object)";
}
else
if ($value===0) {
  echo "zero (number)";
}
else {
  echo "other";
}
?>