Coalesce And Null

<?php

// very slow
$total = @$x;

// looks weird
$total = $x ?? null;

// lengthy
if (!isset($x)) {
    $total = null;
} else {
    $total = $x;
}

?>

I’m still struggling to pick a side in this debate.

@ is too slow, because it merely hides the error.

?? looks dumb. It looks like : if it is null, use null as default.

The if() command is long to type.

Is there another way to handle this issue?

See Also

• Error Control Operators

• 3 ways to check on null [Try me]

PHP Features

• null

• coalesce

Last updated: 14 July 2026