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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-16T07:34:00+00:00

User 2 offers to buy an item from User 1 . User 1 can

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User 2 offers to buy an item from User 1. User 1 can accept or reject. If User 1 accepts, then they will both be able to offer feedback about the transaction.

I have 2 blocks of IF statements. They both work and do the same thing but which is better coding practice?

IF BLOCK 1 checks if which user is there first and then checks if the transaction was accepted or if its still pending

 if ($_SESSION['user_id'] == $seller) {

    if ($row['status'] == 'P') {
        echo '<p>' . get_username_by_id($row['buyer']) . ' has made a bid of ' . $row['price'] . ' for your ' . $row['title'] . '
    <a href="transactions.php?id=' . $transactionid . '&action=accept">Accept</a> / <a href="transactions.php?id=' . $transactionid . '&action=reject">Reject</a><br />';
    } else if ($row['status'] == 'A') {
        echo '<p>' . get_username_by_id($row['buyer']) . ' paid ' . $row['price'] . ' for your ' . $row['title'] . '</p>';
        echo '<a href="feedback.php?id=' . $transactionid . '&action=givefeedback">Give Feedback</a></p>';
    }
} else if ($_SESSION['user_id'] == $buyer) {

    if ($row['status'] == 'P') {
        echo '<p> You have made a bid of ' . $row['price'] . ' for ' . $row['title'] . '</p>';
    } else if ($row['status'] == 'A') {
        echo '<p> You have paid ' . $row['price'] . ' for ' . $row['title'] . '</p>';
        echo '<a href="feedback.php?id=' . $transactionid . '&action=givefeedback">Give Feedback</a></p>';
    }
}

Or

IF BLOCK 2 has only 4 if statements and checks both user and status of transaction at same time

   if ($_SESSION['user_id'] == $seller && $row['status'] == 'P') {
    echo '<p>' . get_username_by_id($row['buyer']) . ' has made a bid of ' . $row['price'] . ' for your ' . $row['title'] . '
    <a href="transactions.php?id=' . $transactionid . '&action=accept">Accept</a> / <a href="transactions.php?id=' . $transactionid . '&action=reject">Reject</a><br />';
} else if ($_SESSION['user_id'] == $buyer && $row['status'] == 'P') {
    echo '<p> You have made a bid of ' . $row['price'] . ' for ' . $row['title'] . '</p>';
} else if ($_SESSION['user_id'] == $seller && $row['status'] == 'A') {
    echo '<p>' . get_username_by_id($row['buyer']) . ' paid ' . $row['price'] . ' for your ' . $row['title'] . '</p>';
    echo '<a href="feedback.php?id=' . $transactionid . '&action=givefeedback">Give Feedback</a></p>';
} else if ($_SESSION['user_id'] == $buyer && $row['status'] == 'A') {
    echo '<p> You have paid ' . $row['price'] . ' for ' . $row['title'] . '</p>';
    echo '<a href="feedback.php?id=' . $transactionid . '&action=givefeedback">Give Feedback</a></p>';
}
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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    The first one shows you the path: if the statuses were to increase in number, you could abstract the functionality into a function with little work. It looks and is cleaner.

    I’d also prefer to separate the actual HTML from PHP. Instead of

    echo '<p>' . get_username_by_id($row['buyer']) . ' has made a bid of ' 
. $row['price'] . ' for your ' . $row['title'] . '
<a href="transactions.php?id=' . $transactionid . '&action=accept">Accept</a> / 
<a href="transactions.php?id=' . $transactionid . '&action=reject">Reject</a><br />';

    I’d prefer

    <p>
  <?= get_username_by_id($row['buyer']) ?> has made a bid of 
  <?= $row['price'] ?> for your <?= $row['title'] ?> 
  <a href="transactions.php?id=<?= $transactionid ?>&action=accept">Accept</a> / 
  <a href="transactions.php?id=<?=$transactionid?>&action=reject">Reject</a>
</p>

    But to each his own.

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