How to test if a variable is set?

Question

In PHP, there is a isset function. What about Java? I think I can use == null with objects, but what about value types like int

Answer 1

Java's compiler won't let you define variables and use them before they were assigned a value, so the problem doesn't exist in the same form as it exists in php.

EDIT

If in your case the compiler didn't stop you already (because this is eg an instance variable) the best solution is probably to initialize the variable to some "special" value as suggested by Guest11239193. Like this:

int x = 0; // because by convention 0 is a reasonable default here 

Of course, what a "safe, reasonable" initialization value is depends on the application.

Afterwards, you could

if (x == 0) { // only allow setting if x has its initial value     x = somenewvalue; } 

Or you could access x via a setter that inhibits changing more than once (probably overkill for most cases):

private int x; private boolean x_was_touched = false;  public void setX (int newXvalue) {     if (!x_was_touched) {        x = newXvalue;        x_was_touched = true;     } }  public int getX() {     return x; } 

You could also use an Integer, int's object brother, which could be initialized to null

Integer x = null;  

However, the fact that you think you need that knowledge may hide a deeper logic flaw in your program, so I'd suggest you explore the reason why you want to know if a primitive value (primitive as opposed to objects, int vs Integer) wasn't touched.

Answer 2

A non-existing variable doesn't exist in Java.