Jump to content

Why declaring empty variables at the beginning of a code?


Junitar

Recommended Posts

Hello,

 

I've just read the tutorial on how to process a form in PHP, available on this site, and I was wondering if there's a specific reason to declare empty variables (or arrays) at the beginning? I don't understand what is the point of doing so. For example, in the following code, why would the 2sd and 3rd lines be necessary?

<?php
$errors = [];
$name = $email = $message = '';

if (condition) {
	$errors['name'] = 'alert';
} else {
	$name = sanitize_input($_POST['name']);
	if (new_condition, $name) {
		$errors['name'] = 'new alert';
	}
}
	

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

First of all, you should understand that a variable is little more than a name for content that can vary, and that this content comes in several prescribed forms called types.  An array is simply one of these variable types. In effect, a variable is simply a reference for changing content.  

A variable is like a storage room with an address.  It is a place where content is stored -- content that can be easily found, replaced, modified, or utilized when called upon.  When you initialize a variable, you declare the existence of a storage room and give it an address.  You can fill it at the moment you declare it, or you can leave it empty.  It is up to you.

By initializing all of your variables at the beginning of your routine they are ready to go.  What is more, they serve together as an outline of what your routine is about, because it is variables that contain your input and output.  After all, the whole purpose of a routine is to modify input in an effort to produce some desired output.

You might even want to organize your initialization strings in groups:  input variables, processing variables, and output variable.

Roddy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You can't add something to a list if you haven't told the system that there's a list to be added to, so you have to declare $errors as an array before adding anything to it.

The reason $name, $email and $message are being initialized is so that when something tries to use them it's guaranteed that they will exist. You're not allowed to use a variable that doesn't exist, it doesn't make sense.

Take this example:

echo $a;

You're telling it to print the contents of variable $a, but you have not told it where $a is or what's in it, so the contents of $a is a mystery. It could print anything it wants and not be wrong, instead it chooses to throw a warning.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you to you both for your thorough feedbacks. I'm afraid it's still a bit fuzzy in my mind right now and the fact my English is limited sure doesn't help. I understand that a variable is used to store a content and it doesn't make sense to call a variable that doesn't exist. But in my example, I declared my variables later in the code:

…
$errors['name'] = 'alert';
…
$name = sanitize_input($_POST['name']);
…
$email = sanitize_input($_POST['email']);
…

this is why I don't completely understand the need of specifying at the beginning that $errors = [], $name = '', $email = '', etc.

If I write:

<?php
$test['letter1'] = 'a';
$test['letter2'] = 'b';

print_r($test);

// the output is Array ( [letter1] => a [letter2] => b )

my array is well declared and ready to be used without being initialized using $test = [].

 

I guess the answer to my question is somewhere in

3 hours ago, iwato said:

You can fill it at the moment you declare it, or you can leave it empty.  It is up to you.

and

2 hours ago, Ingolme said:

The reason $name, $email and $message are being initialized is so that when something tries to use them it's guaranteed that they will exist.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you had error messages turned on you would see  a lot of notices for undefined variables. PHP forgives many mistakes and tries to interpret what you do. If you forgot to declare the array but you're treating the variable as an array then it will implicitly create the array and throw a warning.

Put this at the very beginning of your code:

error_reporting(E_ALL);

Then it will show you when you've done something wrong.

If you're assigning a value before you use it, then you don't need to initialize it as an empty string, but take this example:

if($_POST['has_name'] == 1) {
  $name = $_POST['name'];
}

echo $name;

In this case, there's a chance that $name will not exist, so we would remedy that by setting $name to an empty string at the beginning:

// Initialize variable
$name = '';

// Give it a value under certain conditions
if($_POST['has_name'] == 1) {
  $name = $_POST['name'];
}

// Print the value
echo $name;

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Initializing variables can prevent a program from crashing unexpectedly. Isn't that a good enough reason?

Also Php is very, very forgiving (also known as "idiot-proof"). Why learn bad habits that are poor programming in other languages? Try your code in Javascript and you will see that it fails. In Javascript (and almost all languages) an array must be declared before use.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you very much Ingolme for your example, I understand it now!

28 minutes ago, davej said:

Initializing variables can prevent a program from crashing unexpectedly. Isn't that a good enough reason?

Also Php is very, very forgiving (also known as "idiot-proof"). Why learn bad habits that are poor programming in other languages? Try your code in Javascript and you will see that it fails. In Javascript (and almost all languages) an array must be declared before use.

Yes, I guess it's a good enough reason. Sorry if my question was dumb but I wanted to understand why it was a bad thing not to initialize variables first. I started learning PHP 2 days ago and I don't have enough experience in programming to know it could cause a program to crash. I got it now anyway, thanks.

Edited by Junitar
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Junitar said:

 

Quote

Thank you to you both for your thorough feedbacks. 

You are welcome!

Quote

If I write:


$test['letter1'] = 'a';
$test['letter2'] = 'b';
Quote

my array is well declared and ready to be used without being initialized using $test = [].

You initialized the variable $test with the first statement -- namely,


$test['letter1'] = 'a';

1) You gave your storage room a name -- namely, $test.
2) You assigned to the room a certain kind of content -- namely, that of an array $test [...].
3) You placed content -- namely, 'a' -- in the first box of the array and named the box 'letter1'.

Because you performed items 1) and 2) PHP created an address for your room.  This is called initialization.
Because you gave the first box of your array a name, you have created a special kind of array called an associative array.
 

 

Edited by iwato
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, iwato said:

1) You gave your storage room a name -- namely, $test.
2) You assigned to the room a certain kind of content -- namely, that of an array $test [...].
3) You placed content -- namely, 'a' -- in the first box of the array and named the box 'letter1'.

 

This works in Php, but most programmers use various languages. For example in Javascript this same approach fails...

<script>

arrtest['letter1'] = 'a';
arrtest['letter2'] = 'b';

alert(arrtest['letter1']);

</script>

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dave, I have not tried it and will take your word for it.

Important for Junitar is that he understands the notion of initialization.

For example, in the following code
 

var myvar = [];
function doSomething(input1, input2) {
  var myVar = [input1, input2];
  alert (myVar[0]);
}
doSomething('a', 'b');

the statement

var myVar = [];

initializes the variable myVar by providing a name and variable type.  Javascript provides the address.

The same is true for PHP; simply the syntax is different.  I cannot speak on behalf of other languages, but is it not likely that all object-oriented languages operate on a similar principle?

 

Edited by iwato
Link to comment
Share on other sites

In your code, you have two different variables that both happen to have the same name, one of them is given a value while the other one is left empty. That's not a very good example.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dsonesuk:  That was not a typo.  I placed the blank purposefully so that the brackets are easier to read.  I do understand how someone could misunderstand, however.  Next time I will make a note of the insertion so that there is no confusion.

Ingolme:  You are correct.  The notion of scope did come across my mind as I was writing the code, but the code worked, so I ignored any further discussion.  Besides, it looked nice .... :-)

Janitor:  There are two different variables with the same name, but there are also two different addresses:  one outside of the function, and one inside the function.  If you Google for the city of Paris, you will discover one in Kentucky, USA and one in France.  Who knows?  There are probably more.  In any case, each has its own address.  

This said, each variable is initialized:  one with no content outside the function, and one with content inside the function.  

The principle is the same as I what I wrote in my previous entry:  pprovide a name and variable type (the kind of content that you can store in the room), and Javascript assigns an address.  This is initialization!

Edited by iwato
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...