isset vs empty vs is_null

by Vincy. Last modified on September 15th, 2022.

PHP has multiple functions to check PHP variables with respect to their initialized values. These functions are isset, empty and is_null.

  • isset() is to check if a variable is set with a value and that value should not be null.
  • empty() is to check if a given variable is empty. The difference with isset() is, isset has null check.
  • is_null() is to check whether a variable is defined as null.

I feel the effective way to communicate the difference would be with the help of a TRUTH TABLE,

“” “apple” NULL FALSE 0 undefined TRUE array() 123
isset TRUE TRUE FALSE TRUE TRUE FALSE TRUE TRUE TRUE
empty TRUE FALSE TRUE TRUE TRUE TRUE FALSE TRUE FALSE
is_null FALSE FALSE TRUE FALSE FALSE Warning / TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE

Ok! Now find the difference!

difference

Code to understand the difference

difference.php

<?php
print "<br/>ISSET: <br/>";
$var = "";
print 'isset(""): ' . isset($var) . "<br/>";
$var = 'apple';
print "isset('apple'): " . isset($var) . "<br/>";
$var = null;
print "isset(null): " . isset($var) . "<br/>";
$var = FALSE;
print "isset(FALSE): " . isset($var) . "<br/>";
$var = 0;
print "isset(0): " . isset($var) . "<br/>";
print "isset(undefined): " . isset($var3) . "<br/>";
$var = TRUE;
print "isset(TRUE): " . isset($var) . "<br/>";
$var = array();
print "isset(array()): " . isset($var) . "<br/>";
$var = 123;
print "isset(123): " . isset($var) . "<br/>";

print "<br/>EMPTY: <br/>";
$var = "";
print 'empty(""): ' . empty($var) . "<br/>";
$var = 'apple';
print "empty('apple'): " . empty($var) . "<br/>";
$var = null;
print "empty(null): " . empty($var) . "<br/>";
$var = FALSE;
print "empty(FALSE): " . empty($var) . "<br/>";
$var = 0;
print "empty(0): " . empty($var) . "<br/>";
print "empty(undefined): " . empty($var1) . "<br/>";
$var = TRUE;
print "empty(TRUE): " . empty($var) . "<br/>";
$var = array();
print "empty(array()): " . empty($var) . "<br/>";
$var = 123;
print "empty(123): " . empty($var) . "<br/>";

print "<br/>IS_NULL: <br/>";
$var = "";
print 'is_null(""): ' . is_null($var) . "<br/>";
$var = 'apple';
print "is_null('apple'): " . is_null($var) . "<br/>";
$var = null;
print "is_null(null): " . is_null($var) . "<br/>";
$var = FALSE;
print "is_null(FALSE): " . is_null($var) . "<br/>";
$var = 0;
print "is_null('0'): " . is_null($var) . "<br/>";
print "is_null(undefined):" . is_null($var2) . "<br/>";
$var = TRUE;
print "is_null(TRUE): " . is_null($var) . "<br/>";
$var = array();
print "is_null(array()): " . is_null($var) . "<br/>";
$var = 123;
print "is_null(123): " . is_null($var) . "<br/>";
?>

Output:

ISSET:
isset(""): 1
isset('apple'): 1
isset(null):
isset(FALSE): 1
isset(0): 1
isset(undefined):
isset(TRUE): 1
isset(array()): 1
isset(123): 1

EMPTY:
empty(""): 1
empty('apple'):
empty(null): 1
empty(FALSE): 1
empty(0): 1
empty(undefined): 1
empty(TRUE):
empty(array()): 1
empty(123):

IS_NULL:
is_null(""):
is_null('apple'):
is_null(null): 1
is_null(FALSE):
is_null('0'):
Notice: Undefined variable: var2 in .../index.php on line 51
is_null(undefined):1
is_null(TRUE):
is_null(array()):
is_null(123):

Differences

isset:

Returns true for empty string, False, 0 or an undefined variable. Returns false for null.

empty:

Returns true for null, empty string, False, 0 or an undefined variable. Returns true if there is any value.

is_null:

Returns true for null only. Returns false in all other cases. Throws warning if the variable is undefined. If you suppress the warning, you will get true.

Differences table

Value of $var isset empty is_null
“” (empty string) true true false
‘apple’ (string value) true false false
null (declaration-only) false true true
FALSE true true false
0 true true false
undefined variable false true Warning/true
TRUE true false false
array() (empty array) true true false
123 (numeric value) true false false

References

Vincy
Written by Vincy, a web developer with 15+ years of experience and a Masters degree in Computer Science. She specializes in building modern, lightweight websites using PHP, JavaScript, React, and related technologies. Phppot helps you in mastering web development through over a decade of publishing quality tutorials.

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