Question

Okay, I believe that I can simplify this line of code except I can’t find anything online. Can anyone help me?

if(empty($action) || $action == "a" || $action == "b" || $action == "c") {
}

Thanks!

Answer 1

You can use in_array() to search an array of possible values for $action:

if (empty($action) || in_array($action, array('a', 'b', 'c'))) {
}

I keep the empty() condition separate because empty() tests true for a number of things besides the empty string ''.

If all you care is to test for the empty string, you can include it in in_array(), and get rid of that empty():

if (in_array($action, array('', 'a', 'b', 'c'))) {
}

Performantly, I think explicitly including empty() is a teeny weeny little bit better, due to short-circuiting.