# PHP type comparison tables

The following tables demonstrate behaviors of PHP types and comparison operators, for both loose and strict comparisons. This supplemental is also related to the manual section on type juggling. Inspiration was provided by various user comments and by the work over at » BlueShoes.

Before utilizing these tables, it's important to understand types and their meanings. For example, `"42"` is a string while `42` is an int. `false` is a bool while `"false"` is a string.

> Note:

> HTML Forms do not pass integers, floats, or booleans; they pass strings. To find out if a string is numeric, you may use is_numeric().

> Note:

> Simply doing `if ($x)` while $x is undefined will generate an error of level `E_NOTICE`. Instead, consider using empty() or isset() and/or initialize your variables.

> Note:

> Some numeric operations can result in a value represented by the constant `NAN`. Any loose or strict comparisons of this value against any other value, including itself, but except `true`, will have a result of `false`. (i.e. `NAN != NAN` and `NAN !== NAN`) Examples of operations that produce `NAN` include `sqrt(-1)`, `asin(2)`, and `acosh(0)`.

Comparisons of $x with PHP functions
Expression | gettype() | empty() | is_null() | isset() | bool : `if($x)`
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
`$x = "";` | string | `true` | `false` | `true` | `false`
`$x = null;` | NULL | `true` | `true` | `false` | `false`
`var $x;` | NULL | `true` | `true` | `false` | `false`
$x is undefined | NULL | `true` | `true` | `false` | `false`
`$x = [];` | array | `true` | `false` | `true` | `false`
`$x = ['a', 'b'];` | array | `false` | `false` | `true` | `true`
`$x = false;` | bool | `true` | `false` | `true` | `false`
`$x = true;` | bool | `false` | `false` | `true` | `true`
`$x = 1;` | int | `false` | `false` | `true` | `true`
`$x = 42;` | int | `false` | `false` | `true` | `true`
`$x = 0;` | int | `true` | `false` | `true` | `false`
`$x = -1;` | int | `false` | `false` | `true` | `true`
`$x = "1";` | string | `false` | `false` | `true` | `true`
`$x = "0";` | string | `true` | `false` | `true` | `false`
`$x = "-1";` | string | `false` | `false` | `true` | `true`
`$x = "php";` | string | `false` | `false` | `true` | `true`
`$x = "true";` | string | `false` | `false` | `true` | `true`
`$x = "false";` | string | `false` | `false` | `true` | `true`

Loose comparisons with `==`
| `true` | `false` | `1` | `0` | `-1` | `"1"` | `"0"` | `"-1"` | `null` | `[]` | `"php"` | `""`
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
`true` | `true` | `false` | `true` | `false` | `true` | `true` | `false` | `true` | `false` | `false` | `true` | `false`
`false` | `false` | `true` | `false` | `true` | `false` | `false` | `true` | `false` | `true` | `true` | `false` | `true`
`1` | `true` | `false` | `true` | `false` | `false` | `true` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false`
`0` | `false` | `true` | `false` | `true` | `false` | `false` | `true` | `false` | `true` | `false` | `false`* | `false`*
`-1` | `true` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `true` | `false` | `false` | `true` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false`
`"1"` | `true` | `false` | `true` | `false` | `false` | `true` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false`
`"0"` | `false` | `true` | `false` | `true` | `false` | `false` | `true` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false`
`"-1"` | `true` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `true` | `false` | `false` | `true` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false`
`null` | `false` | `true` | `false` | `true` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `true` | `true` | `false` | `true`
`[]` | `false` | `true` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `true` | `true` | `false` | `false`
`"php"` | `true` | `false` | `false` | `false`* | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `true` | `false`
`""` | `false` | `true` | `false` | `false`* | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `true` | `false` | `false` | `true`

* `true` prior to PHP 8.0.0.

Strict comparisons with `===`
| `true` | `false` | `1` | `0` | `-1` | `"1"` | `"0"` | `"-1"` | `null` | `[]` | `"php"` | `""`
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
`true` | `true` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false`
`false` | `false` | `true` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false`
`1` | `false` | `false` | `true` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false`
`0` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `true` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false`
`-1` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `true` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false`
`"1"` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `true` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false`
`"0"` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `true` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false`
`"-1"` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `true` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false`
`null` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `true` | `false` | `false` | `false`
`[]` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `true` | `false` | `false`
`"php"` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `true` | `false`
`""` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `false` | `true`

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