Is there a null-conditional operator in PHP?

Question

I want to get the value of a deeply nested property.

e.g.

$data->person->name->last_name;

The problem is I am not sure if person or name is declared. I also don't want to use nested if statements. If statements won't look good for deeply nested properties.

Is there a null-conditional operator in PHP?

Solved

There is no need for a null-conditional operator since a null-coalescence operator does the job.

@MattiaDinosaur It would still require me to use an `if` statement. — kgbph, Aug 22 '18 at 04:04
try this $data->person->name->last_name or 'default' in my case it i sworking; — Dhruv Raval, Aug 22 '18 at 04:24
Can you do something like this?: `if($data !== null && $data->person !== null && $data->person->name !== null) { echo 'not null'; }` — Edward, Aug 22 '18 at 04:27
Possible duplicate of [Reference — What does this symbol mean in PHP?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3737139/reference-what-does-this-symbol-mean-in-php) — localheinz, Aug 22 '18 at 06:00
@localheinz I am not asking for the symbol. I am asking if there is a null-conditional operator in PHP that will get the deep-nested property. — kgbph, Aug 22 '18 at 06:05

score 12 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 22 '18 at 05:23

12

php7 Null coalescing operator doc

$user = $data->person->name->last_name ?? 'no name';

php 5.*

$user = !empty($data->person->name->last_name) ? $data->person->name->last_name :'no name';

answered Aug 22 '18 at 05:23

Redr01d

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I noticed that PHP doesn't have `null-conditional` operator since a `null-coalescing` operator does the job. Thanks. – kgbph Aug 22 '18 at 05:35
Please note, that this does **not** work on methods, like a real null-conditional operator would – hakai Aug 01 '19 at 08:07
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Actually, the null-coalescing operator `$result = $value ?? $default;` equals `$result = isset($value) ? $value : $default;` for `empty`, you would have to use `$result = $value ?: $default;` which is a shorthand for ternary operator `$result = $value ? $value : $default;` – MarthyM Sep 03 '19 at 14:50

score 7 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 16 '21 at 12:00

7

There is nullsafe operator since PHP 8.

$last_nam = $data?->person?->name?->last_name;

The advantage of nullsafe operator over null coalescing is that the former allows to specify exact parts of the chain that should be null-safe.

answered Mar 16 '21 at 12:00

ya.teck

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It's also useful if it's a chain of method calls instead of just nested properties. – Semimono May 03 '21 at 17:48

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 22 '18 at 08:35

In PHP 7, a new feature, null coalescing operator (??) has been introduced. It is used to replace the ternary operation in conjunction with isset() function.

The Null coalescing operator returns its first operand if it exists and is not NULL; otherwise it returns its second operand.

For your example:

$username = isset($data->person->name) ? isset($data->person->last_name) : 'not name';

Is there a null-conditional operator in PHP?

3 Answers3