Finding an easier way...

[zerotolerance]

Hi ,

 

I'm new on this forum so don't judge too hard.. But I have a few questions. I am recently new to PHP as this is my first computer language I've learnt besides HTML.

 

My first question is, what's the difference between !== and !=, and is it more secure to use !== when comparing two fields such as passwords? I've different things and this has confused me.. 

 

And my second question is, I have this piece of code

 

/* option error checking */
      $field = "option";  // Use field name for option
         /* Check if the option picked is from the list of options to choose from*/
      if($suboption !== "option1" || $suboption !== "option2" || $suboption !== "option3" || $suboption !== "option4" || $suboption !== "option5" || $suboption !== "option6" || $suboption !== "option7"){
            $form->setError($field, "* Unexpected error with option");
      }

 

I'm guessing in the long run, this will slow down my script.. is there an easier way of checking without using || $suboption !== and is it okay if I've used !==?

Like I said I'm new to this so please don't flame.. I've done some research but I can't seem to find some accurate answer.

 

Thank you,

 

ZT

[rythemton]

To understand the difference between != and !==, you need to understand the difference between == and ===. The triple = will verify type as well as value, so it is stricter:

if( "24" == 24 ) // This will return TRUE
if( "24" === 24 ) // This will return FALSE because one is an INT, the other a STRING
if( 1 == TRUE ) // This will return TRUE
if( 1 === TRUE ) // This will return FALSE because one is an INT, the other a BOOLEAN
if( FALSE == "" ) // This will return TRUE
if( FALSE === "" ) // This will return FALSE because one is a BOOLEAN, the other a STRING

!= is the opposite of ==, so if == is TRUE, then != is FALSE. !== is the opposite of ===, so if === is TRUE, then !== is FALSE.

if( "24" != 24 ) // This will return FALSE
if( "24" !== 24 ) // This will return TRUE because one is an INT, the other a STRING
if( 1 != TRUE ) // This will return FALSE
if( 1 !== TRUE ) // This will return TRUE because one is an INT, the other a BOOLEAN
if( FALSE != "" ) // This will return FALSE
if( FALSE !== "" ) // This will return TRUE because one is a BOOLEAN, the other a STRING

Sometimes you should use one over the other, and sometimes it don't matter. It will take experience to learn when it matters and when it doesn't.

 

I hope this helps.

[BK87]

<?php

$value_one=26; //integer
$value_two="26"; //string

if($value_one == $value_two){
    echo "the values are identical"; //they are both `26` --- string or integer
}


/* 
* this next example featuring "===" (explicit) will never process because $value_one is an integer and $value_two is a string, yet they have the same value of `26`
* comparing two strings with explicit isn't necessary
* good practice is to compare TRUE and FALSE statements this way.
* to make sure that "true" (string) isn't the same as TRUE (boolean)
*/

if($value_one === $value_two){
    echo "the values are identical";
}

?>

 

i hope I got that right.

[rythemton]

/* to make sure that "true" (string) isn't the same as TRUE (boolean)   */

PHP considers every non-empty string to be TRUE, except "0", when comparing a STRING to a BOOLEAN.

if( "FALSE" == TRUE ) // This will be considered TRUE because the string is not empty.
if( "FALSE" === TRUE ) // This will be considered FALSE because one is a STRING and the other a BOOLEAN

[BK87]

hmm now that I think about it I don't even know why I wrote that... idiot me, thanks for correcting me.

[zerotolerance]

Perfect Thank you so much but I'm still unsure of how I can write

 

[m]  if($suboption !== "option1" || $suboption !== "option2" || $suboption !== "option3" || $suboption !== "option4" || $suboption !== "option5" || $suboption !== "option6" || $suboption !== "option7"){
            $form->setError($field, "* Unexpected error with option");
      }[/m]

 

An easier way

[jcbones]

<?php //php tag for syntax highlighting
$options = array('option1','option2','option3','option4','option5','option6','option7'); //array holding options.
if(!in_array($suboption,$options)) { //if suboption is not in the options array.
            $form->setError($field, "* Unexpected error with option"); //set the error.
      }

 

There are 100's of ways to do things in PHP, doesn't make them wrong, just different.

[TimeBomb]

Hmm.

 

== and != are opposites. Equal to and not equal to.

=== means equal to and of the same type.

Most notably, !== means equal to or not the same type.

 

Some examples:

null == false // true
null != false // false

null === false // false
null !== false // true

 

=== and !== should not be thought of as direct opposites as == and != are.

!== is actually more flexible than !=, and thus it will return true more often than the latter.

 

Personally, out of the four operators, !== is by far my least used one.

[zerotolerance]

<?php //php tag for syntax highlighting
$options = array('option1','option2','option3','option4','option5','option6','option7'); //array holding options.
if(!in_array($suboption,$options)) { //if suboption is not in the options array.
            $form->setError($field, "* Unexpected error with option"); //set the error.
      }

 

There are 100's of ways to do things in PHP, doesn't make them wrong, just different.

 

Thank you

 

Hmm.

 

== and != are opposites. Equal to and not equal to.

=== means equal to and of the same type.

Most notably, !== means equal to or not the same type.

 

Some examples:

null == false // true
null != false // false

null === false // false
null !== false // true

 

=== and !== should not be thought of as direct opposites as == and != are.

!== is actually more flexible than !=, and thus it will return true more often than the latter.

 

Personally, out of the four operators, !== is by far my least used one.

 

Thank you!