Question

Aren’t these equivalent?

==SCRIPT A==

if (file_exists($file) == false) {
     return false;
}

==SCRIPT B==

if(!file_exists($file)) {
     return false;
}

Answer 1

Plain answer: Y E S

They evaluate to the same thing.

That first one might be even better suited like this:

if (file_exists($file) === false) { // === checks type and value
     return false;
}

OR:

return file_exists($file);