Req #54106 [Com]: Shortcut "ternary" companion operator

Edit report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=54106&edit=1 ID: 54106 Comment by: marrch dot caat at gmail dot com Reported by: a at b dot c dot de Summary: Shortcut "ternary" companion operator Status: Open Type: Feature/Change Request Package: Scripting Engine problem Operating System: Irrelevant PHP Version: Irrelevant Block user comment: N Private report: N New Comment: Looks like the description is a bit weird, or I just couldn't understand it. I see no meaning in expression $a ? $c ? $a - but I often use scripts like $a ? $a : $b - which means that if $a isn't empty, use it, otherwise use $b. C# and some other languages have an ?? operator for that, and if it would exist in PHP, it'd be possible to write expressions like the following: $connStr = $currConn ?? $config['defaultConnStr'] ?? requestUserForConnStr(); - which is enough clear and useful. Now it has to be written by either sequence of IFs, or by something like: $connStr = $currConn ? $currConn : ($config['defaultConnStr'] ? $config['defaultConnStr'] : requestUserForConnStr()); - which isn't that clear. Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2011-02-26 15:55:07] a at b dot c dot de Description: ------------ The expression $a ? $b : $c can be shortened to $a ?: $c if $b==$c. In this the "?:" operator behaves much like the "||" operator in, say, Perl or JavaScript, or the "or" operator of Python: "$a if it looks true, $c otherwise". But those three languages also have "&&" (or "and") operators which mean "$a if it looks false, $c otherwise". PHP currently lacks such an operator: where Python can have "a and c", PHP still needs "$a ? $c : $a", including the potential double evaluation or intermediate variable needed if "$a" is anything more complex. So the Feature Request is another operator, perhaps ":?", which behaves as described in the third paragraph above: "$a :? $c" would be an abbreviation for and equivalent to "$a ? $c : $a". It's possible to come up with a tortured bit of algebra to justify the ":?" symbol, but aesthetic symmetry ought to be enough of an excuse both for the symbol and more importantly the operator it identifies. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Edit this bug report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=54106&edit=1