Setting default values (conditional assignment)

Question

In Ruby you can easily set a default value for a variable

x ||= "default" 

The above statement will set the value of x to "default" if x is nil or false

Is there a similar shortcut in PHP or do I have to use the longer form:

$x = (isset($x))? $x : "default"; 

Are there any easier ways to handle this in PHP?

Answer 1

As of PHP 5.3 you can use the ternary operator while omitting the middle argument:

$x = $x ?: 'default'; 

Answer 2

As of PHP 7.0, you can also use the null coalesce operator

// PHP version < 7.0, using a standard ternary $x = (isset($_GET['y'])) ? $_GET['y'] : 'not set'; // PHP version >= 7.0 $x = $_GET['y'] ?? 'not set';