Question

I was wondering if there is any performance difference between the following 2 syntax of if-statement(similarly for other loops – while, for, foreach etc) :

 if(..) {...}
 else {...}

AND

if(..) : ...
else : ... 
endif;

Any advantages of using one over the other?

Answer 1

You normally use the alternative syntax (if (condition): endif;) in views (templates) as it’s easier to read amongst HTML. For example:

<?php foreach ($items as $item): ?>
<article class="item">
  <h1><?php echo $item->title; ?></h1>
</article>
<?php endforeach; ?>

Is easier to read than:

<?php foreach ($items as $item) { ?>
<article class="item">
  <h1><?php echo $item->title; ?></h1>
</article>
<?php } ?>

Especially as you add more control structures such as if, for etc. If you use curly braces in HTML, it becomes harder to distinguish which closing curly brace belongs to which opening curly brace, whereas using the alternative syntax you know with endif you’re looking for an opening if: statement.

Hope that helps.