Question

While coding, i just asked myself this question :

Is this faster :

if(false) return true;
 else return false;

Than this ?

if(false) return true;
return false;

Of course, IF there is a difference it is ridiculous, but my curiosity won’t leave until i know that 😀

Answer 1

Just:

return !false;

So in real-life example

return !$this->isSth();

// Not

if ($this->isSth) {
    return false;
} else {
    return true;
}

Performance isn’t important here – every solution is extremely fast, there is no need for optimization. Remember the words of Donald Knuth:

Premature optimization is the root of all evil