is_null

normadize (a) gmail (d) com (2012-07-07 22:08:37)

Using === NULL instead of is_null(), is actually useful in loaded server scenarios where you have hundreds or thousands of requests per second. Saving microseconds on a lot of "simple" operations in the entire PHP execution chain usually results in being able to serve more pages per second at the same speed, or lowering your cpu usage. People usually write very bad and slow code.

claude dot pache at gmail dot com (2009-05-09 09:38:43)

A small but important difference between "is_null" and "isset" is the following: "is_null" tests if an *expression* (not a *variable*) is null, while "isset" tests if a *variable* has null value or is undefined. The difference is manifested in the two following experiments:

Experiment 1:
<?php
function test() { return null; }
var_dump(is_null(test())); // displays "true"
var_dump(isset(test())); // parse error, because "test()" is not a variable
?>

Experiment 2:
<?php
error_reporting(E_ALL);
var_dump(isset($an_undefined_variable)); // displays "false" since "$an_undefined_variable" is not defined
var_dump(is_null($an_undefined_variable)); // displays "true" (as expected), but throws a notice because "$an_undefined_variable" is not defined.
?>

george at fauxpanels dot com (2008-12-01 13:58:13)

See how php parses different values. $var is the variable.
$var = NULL "" 0 "0" 1
strlen($var) = 0 0 1 1 1
is_null($var) = TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE FALSE
$var == "" = TRUE TRUE TRUE FALSE FALSE
!$var = TRUE TRUE TRUE TRUE FALSE
!is_null($var) = FALSE TRUE TRUE TRUE TRUE
$var != "" = FALSE FALSE FALSE TRUE TRUE
$var = FALSE FALSE FALSE FALSE TRUE
Peace!

mdufour at gmail dot com (2008-08-19 21:31:21)

Testing for a NULL field/column returned by a mySQL query.
Say you want to check if field/column “foo” from a given row of the table “bar” when returned by a mySQL query is null.
You just use the “is_null()” function:
[connect…]
$qResult=mysql_query("Select foo from bar;");
while ($qValues=mysql_fetch_assoc($qResult))
if (is_null($qValues["foo"]))
echo "No foo data!";
else
echo "Foo data=".$qValues["foo"];
[…]

Malfist (2008-07-01 07:54:06)

Micro optimization isn't worth it.
You had to do it ten million times to notice a difference, a little more than 2 seconds
$a===NULL; Took: 1.2424390316s
is_null($a); Took: 3.70693397522s
difference = 2.46449494362
difference/10,000,000 = 0.000000246449494362
The execution time difference between ===NULL and is_null is less than 250 nanoseconds. Go optimize something that matters.

strrev xc.noxeh@ellij (2008-06-03 05:42:21)

$var===NULL is much faster than is_null($var) (with the same result)
I did some benchmarking with 10 million iterations:
$a=null;
isset($a); Took: 1.71841216087s
$a==NULL; Took: 1.27205181122s
$a===NULL; Took: 1.2424390316s
is_null($a); Took: 3.70693397522s
$a=5;
isset($a); Took: 1.15165400505s
$a==NULL; Took: 1.41901302338s
$a===NULL; Took: 1.21655392647s
is_null($a); Took: 3.78501200676s
error_reporting(E_ALL&~E_NOTICE);
unset($a);
isset($a); Took: 1.51441502571s
$a==NULL; Took: 16.5414860249s
$a===NULL; Took: 16.1273870468s
is_null($a); Took: 23.1918480396s
Please note, that isset is only included because it gives a good performance in any case; HOWEVER isset is NOT the same, or the opposite.
But you might be able to use isset() instead of null-checking.
You should not use is_null, except when you need a callback-function, or for conformity with is_int, is_float, etc.

ai dot unstmann at combase dot de (2008-01-14 12:17:03)

For what I realized is that  is_null($var)  returns exactly the opposite of  isset($var) , except that is_null($var) throws a notice if $var hasn't been set yet.

the following will prove that:

<?php

$quirks = array(null, true, false, 0, 1, '', "\0", "unset");

foreach($quirks as $var) {
    if ($var === "unset") unset($var);

    echo is_null($var) ? 1 : 0;
    echo isset($var) ? 1 : 0;
    echo "\n";
}

?>

this will print out something like:

10    // null
01    // true
01    // false
01    // 0
01    // 1
01    // ''
01    // "\0"
Notice:  Undefined variable: var in /srv/www/htdocs/sandbox/null/nulltest.php on line 8
10    // (unset)

For the major quirky types/values is_null($var) obviously always returns the opposite of isset($var), and the notice clearly points out the faulty line with the is_null() statement. You might want to examine the return value of those functions in detail, but since both are specified to return boolean types there should be no doubt.

A second look into the PHP specs tells that is_null() checks whether a value is null or not. So, you may pass any VALUE to it, eg. the result of a function.
isset() on the other hand is supposed to check for a VARIABLE's existence, which makes it a language construct rather than a function. Its sole porpuse lies in that checking. Passing anything else will result in an error.

Knowing that, allows us to draw the following unlikely conclusion:

isset() as a language construct is way faster, more reliable and powerful than is_null() and should be prefered over is_null(), except for when you're directly passing a function's result, which is considered bad programming practice anyways.

powderz at gmail dot com (2006-08-11 21:41:00)

Actually, since a wrapper is going to be written, you can check for your own version null values...if you want to be creative for some reason.

<?php
function isnull($data)
{
  /** only if you need this
  if (is_string($data)) {
    $data = strtolower($data);
  }
  */
  switch ($data) {
    // Add whatever your definition of null is
    // This is just an example
    //-----------------------------
    case 'unknown': // continue
    case 'undefined': // continue
    //-----------------------------
    case 'null': // continue
    case 'NULL': // continue
    case NULL:
      return true;
  }
  // return false by default
  return false;
}
?>

MARSIK (2005-07-31 07:54:00)

I've tested different values in order to compare 'em with NULL with the help of different operators...

<?php
$arr=array(0, 0.0, '0', '0.0', '',FALSE,'false',NULL, 'NULL');
for ($i=0; $i<count($arr); $i++)
   $arr[$i]=array(
      $arr[$i], 
      ((integer)($arr[$i]==NULL))
     .((integer)($arr[$i]===NULL))
     .((integer)is_null($arr[$i]))
      );

var_dump($arr);
?>

it gave the following results:

0 : ==NULL
0.0 : ==NULL
'0' : nothing worked =)
'0.0' : nothing...
'' : ==NULL
FALSE : ==NULL
'false' : nothing
NULL : ==NULL, ===NULL, is_null()
'NULL' : nothing

enjoy =)

michael at cannonbose dot com (2003-12-30 09:42:58)

Regarding avoidance of NULLs in your MySQL queries, why not use IS NULL and IS NOT NULL in your WHERE clauses.
SELECT *
FROM someDatabase
WHERE someAttribute IS NOT NULL
Cheers,
Michael

uioreanu at hotmail dot com (2001-03-23 06:36:43)

Don't try to test
if ($intSomething==NULL) {
...
}
use is_null() instead.
The first statement misses 0 values.
Regards,
Calin
[Ed. note: this is because == tests for equivalence of value, but not type. NULL evaluates to
false, as does 0, so NULL == 0 is true--even though 0 is type int and NULL is type null.
You should use either is_null() as noted or ===, which returns true only if its operands are
equal and of the same type.]