Question

I was reading somewhere (possibly here on SO) that there is a built-in PHP function that is shorthand for checking if an item in an array is set and then testing it for equality. I realize that I can easily recreate this with the following snippet, but I was just wondering if there is a built-in way to do this. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel, but if this isn’t a reinvention, I suppose this is the answer.

<?php
    function item_equality(&$array, $key, $operand) {
        return isset($array[$key]) && $array[$key] == $operand;
    }
?>

Answer 1

Ah, it’s not a function I was looking for, it is an operator. It is the error control operator. With you can use something such as the following.

<?php
    if (@$array[$key] == $operand) {
        // do stuff
    }
?>