Identical match (with type checking) in switch statement PHP

Question

Just found a strange situation where we need to run switch statements only on identical match (with exact type). Just think about this scenario:

$value = "";

switch ($value) {
    case 0:
        echo "Zero";
        break;

    case 1:
        echo "One";
        break;

    case "":
        echo "Empty";
        break;

    default:
        echo "None";
        break;
}

This will echo "Zero" where I want it to echo "Empty". Is this possible to do in some way with switch statement or I have the only way to use if...elseif...else with === operator?

Answer 1

Try like this

$value = "";

switch (true) {
    case ($value === 0):
        echo "Zero";
        break;

    case ($value === 1):
        echo "One";
        break;

    case ($value === ""):
        echo "Empty";
        break;
}

DEMO

Answer 2

PHP's switch statement is documented to use loose comparison. If you need exact matches, then unfortunately, the best bet is to use separate if/else tests with ===.

One alternative is something similar to

switch(true) {
    case $value === 0:
        //...
        break;
}

but that's about the same as a series of if-else statements, with more typing and indentation.