Question

I was thinking of doing something like this in PHP

function doSomething() { /* ... */ }

while(my_array[] = doSomething()) { }

instead of using extra variable : while(myValue = doSomething()) { myArray[] = myValue; }

Is using while block to do nothing good practice or not? And if it is not – why?

Answer 1

Yes, you can.

$x = [];
while ($x[] = rand(0, 3)) { }
var_dump($x);

// array(4) {
//   [0]=>
//   int(4)
//   [1]=>
//   int(2)
//   [2]=>
//   int(2)
//   [3]=>
//   int(0)
// }

However, if you reevaluate the problem you’re trying to solve, you may find that a different approach or construct may prove better, and won’t require reducing the while construct to this purpose.