Question

I have just seen this

// Check to see if the request is a XHR call    
if (request::is_ajax())
{
  // Send the 403 header
  header('HTTP/1.1 403 Forbidden');
  return;
}

I have not seen a simple return before, and I have never used it. My only guess is that it simply acts the same as any return 'something' (halting the function), except doesn’t actually return a result.

Furthermore, what would happen in this situation?

function text($var)   
{
    if ( ! $var) {
        return;
    }
    do_something();
}

$var = text('');

I know it’s a bad example (it should probably return false or throw an exception), but would it be an error, or would the $var simply be null or blank?

Answer 1

function text($var) 

{

    if ( ! $var) {
        return;
    }
    do_something();

}

$var = text('');

echo gettype($var);
echo is_bool($var) ? "true" : "false";
echo is_string($var) ? "true" : "false";
echo is_null($var) ? "true" : "false";

returns:

NULL
false
false
true