PHP IF statement for Boolean values: $var === true vs $var

Question

I know this question is not really important.. however I've been wondering:

Which of the following IF statements is the best and fastest to use?

<?php  $variable = true;  if($variable === true) {     //Something }  if($variable) {     // Something }   ?> 

I know === is to match exactly the boolean value. However is there really any improvement?

Answer 1

Using if ($var === true) or if ($var) is not a question of style but a question of correctness. Because if ($var) is the same as if ($var == true). And == comparison doesn’t check the type. So 1 == true is true but 1 === true is false.

Answer 2

As far as speed, I agree with Niels, it's probably negligible.

As far as which if statement is best to test with, the answer probably depends on the expected casting and values $variable can have.

If $variable is using 0 and 1 as a true/false flag then if ( $variable ) or if ( !$variable ) would work, but if it's an integer result as in strpos() you'll run into problems ... if possible, I'd recommend using an actual boolean value rather than 0 / 1.

... maybe this will help clarify; comment out the variations of $var to see the various results.

<?php  $var = true; $var = 1;  $var = false; $var = 0;  if ( $var ) {     echo 'var = true <br />'; }  if ( $var === true ) {     echo 'var is a boolean and = true'; }  if ( !$var ) {     echo 'var = false <br />'; }  if ( $var === false ) {     echo 'var is a boolean and = false'; }