This is the easiest type. A boolean expresses a truth value. It can be either TRUE or FALSE.
Note: The boolean type was introduced in PHP 4.
To specify a boolean literal, use either the keyword TRUE or FALSE. Both are case-insensitive.
Usually you use some kind of operator which returns a boolean value, and then pass it on to a control structure.
To explicitly convert a value to boolean, use either the (bool) or the (boolean) cast. However, in most cases you do not need to use the cast, since a value will be automatically converted if an operator, function or control structure requires a boolean argument.
See also Type Juggling.
When converting to boolean, the following values are considered FALSE:
the boolean FALSE itself
the integer 0 (zero)
the float 0.0 (zero)
an array with zero elements
an object with zero member variables
the special type NULL (including unset variables)
Warning |
-1 is considered TRUE, like any other non-zero (whether negative or positive) number! |
<?php echo gettype((bool) ""); // bool(false) echo gettype((bool) 1); // bool(true) echo gettype((bool) -2); // bool(true) echo gettype((bool) "foo"); // bool(true) echo gettype((bool) 2.3e5); // bool(true) echo gettype((bool) array(12)); // bool(true) echo gettype((bool) array()); // bool(false) ?> |