Categories
PHP

PHP isset() vs empty() vs is_null()

PHP has different functions which can be used to test the value of a variable. Three useful functions for this are isset(), empty() and is_null(). All these function return a boolean value. If these functions are not used in correct way they can cause unexpected results.

isset() and empty() are often viewed as functions that are opposite, however this is not always true. In this post I will explain the differences between these functions.

isset()

isset — Determine if a variable is set and is not NULL

In other words, it returns true only when the variable is not null.

empty()

empty — Determine whether a variable is empty

In other words, it will return true if the variable is an empty string, false, array(), NULL, “0?, 0, and an unset variable.

is_null()

is_null — Finds whether a variable is NULL

In other words, it returns true only when the variable is null. is_null() is opposite of isset(), except for one difference that isset() can be applied to unknown variables, but is_null() only to declared variables.

The table below is an easy reference for what these functions will return for different values. The blank spaces means the function returns bool(false).
Value of variable ($var) isset($var) empty($var) is_null($var)
“” (an empty string) bool(true) bool(true)
” ” (space) bool(true)
FALSE bool(true) bool(true)
TRUE bool(true)
array() (an empty array) bool(true) bool(true)
NULL bool(true) bool(true)
“0? (0 as a string) bool(true) bool(true)
0 (0 as an integer) bool(true) bool(true)
0.0 (0 as a float) bool(true) bool(true)
var $var; (a variable declared, but without a value) bool(true) bool(true)
NULL byte (“\ 0?) bool(true)
I have tested the above values in following environments:

  • Wampserver 2.1, Apache 2.2.21, PHP 5.3.8
  • Wampserver 2.1, Apache 2.2.17, PHP 5.3.5
  • Wampserver 2.1, Apache 2.2.17, PHP 5.2.11

You can use the code below to get the above table.

<?php
echo '<table border="1">';
echo '<tr><th>Value of variable ($var)</th><th>isset($var)</th><th>empty($var)</th><th>is_null($var)</th></tr>';
$var = '';
echo '<tr><td>"" (an empty string)</td><td>';
var_dump(isset($var));
echo '</td><td>';
var_dump(empty($var));
echo '</td><td>';
var_dump(is_null($var));
echo '</td></tr>';

$var = ' ';
echo '<tr><td>" " (space)</td><td>';
var_dump(isset($var));
echo '</td><td>';
var_dump(empty($var));
echo '</td><td>';
var_dump(is_null($var));
echo '</td></tr>';

$var = FALSE;
echo '<tr><td>FALSE</td><td>';
var_dump(isset($var));
echo '</td><td>';
var_dump(empty($var));
echo '</td><td>';
var_dump(is_null($var));
echo '</td></tr>';

$var = TRUE;
echo '<tr><td>TRUE</td><td>';
var_dump(isset($var));
echo '</td><td>';
var_dump(empty($var));
echo '</td><td>';
var_dump(is_null($var));
echo '</td></tr>';

$var = array();
echo '<tr><td>array() (an empty array)</td><td>';
var_dump(isset($var));
echo '</td><td>';
var_dump(empty($var));
echo '</td><td>';
var_dump(is_null($var));
echo '</td></tr>';

$var = NULL;
echo '<tr><td>NULL</td><td>';
var_dump(isset($var));
echo '</td><td>';
var_dump(empty($var));
echo '</td><td>';
var_dump(is_null($var));
echo '</td></tr>';

$var = '0';
echo '<tr><td>"0" (0 as a string)</td><td>';
var_dump(isset($var));
echo '</td><td>';
var_dump(empty($var));
echo '</td><td>';
var_dump(is_null($var));
echo '</td></tr>';

$var = 0;
echo '<tr><td>0 (0 as an integer)</td><td>';
var_dump(isset($var));
echo '</td><td>';
var_dump(empty($var));
echo '</td><td>';
var_dump(is_null($var));
echo '</td></tr>';

$var = 0.0;
echo '<tr><td>0.0 (0 as a float)</td><td>';
var_dump(isset($var));
echo '</td><td>';
var_dump(empty($var));
echo '</td><td>';
var_dump(is_null($var));
echo '</td></tr>';

unset($var); // doing this just as a precaution, to make sure $var is actually not defined.
$var;
echo '<tr><td>var $var; (a variable declared, but without a value)</td><td>';
var_dump(isset($var));
echo '</td><td>';
var_dump(empty($var));
echo '</td><td>';
var_dump(is_null($var));
echo '</td></tr>';

$var = '\0';
echo '<tr><td>NULL byte ("\ 0")</td><td>';
var_dump(isset($var));
echo '</td><td>';
var_dump(empty($var));
echo '</td><td>';
var_dump(is_null($var));
echo '</td></tr>';

echo '</table>';
?>
'Coz sharing is caring

By Swatantra Kumar

Swatantra is an engineering leader with a successful record in building, nurturing, managing, and leading a multi-disciplinary, diverse, and distributed team of engineers and managers developing and delivering solutions. Professionally, he oversees solution design-development-delivery, cloud transition, IT strategies, technical and organizational leadership, TOM, IT governance, digital transformation, Innovation, stakeholder management, management consulting, and technology vision & strategy. When he's not working, he enjoys reading about and working with new technologies, and trying to get his friends to make the move to new web trends. He has written, co-written, and published many articles in international journals, on various domains/topics including Open Source, Networks, Low-Code, Mobile Technologies, and Business Intelligence. He made a proposal for an information management system at the University level during his graduation days.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.