Evaluating a boolean variable in PHP: Should one use If/Else or Switch?

Question

I love getting myself into these ridiculous situations where I over-evaluate my coding practices, so here goes!

This question probably transcends PHP (as well as sanity). When evaluating a Boolean variable, which of these is best practice? (assume that there's too much //do stuff for a ternary)

if ($bool) {
    // do true stuff
} else {
    // do false stuff
}

or

switch ($bool) {
    case true:
        // do true stuff
        break;
    default:
        // do false stuff
        break;
}

I'm interested more in performance and/or idiosyncratic considerations than blanket statements like "If/Else looks better," "Always use Switch," or "Do what you feel is right."

That is, unless there really isn't a difference.

Why are people so anal about performance of these things?

BoltClock
– BoltClock

2010-08-27 15:47:53 +00:00
Commented Aug 27, 2010 at 15:47 — BoltClock
– BoltClock, Commented Aug 27, 2010 at 15:47

quantumSoup · Accepted Answer · 2010-08-27 15:50:41Z

10

Use the if-else version. It's very clear and easy to understand.

You shouldn't really use switch unless you have multiple (> 2) values to switch on. You gain nothing using switch in this case (other than making your code less comprehensible).

If there was any difference in performance, the if-else version would be faster, although if was there any difference it would really be negligible.

This would be a micro-optimization if anything. Don't do it. Before you introduce any "optimizations" to your code, profile it and identify your bottlenecks.

edited Aug 27, 2010 at 15:50

answered Aug 27, 2010 at 15:42

quantumSoup

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1 Comment

Stephen Over a year ago

Thanks. For what it's worth I'm not profiling my code afterward and thinking "Man I wonder what would be faster." It was more of a "What should I tend to do when writing the conditional in the first place."

test-in-prod · Accepted Answer · 2010-08-27 15:53:21Z

0

Just in case, you should also check that your variable is really a boolean (and not "", 0, or null which may also evaluate to false)

if($bool === false) {
 // false stuff
} else if($bool === true) {
 // true stuff
} else {
 /// WTF???
}

answered Aug 27, 2010 at 15:53

test-in-prod

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1 Comment

quantumSoup Over a year ago

else { throw FileNotFoundException }

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