[RESOLVED] while loop question

[Desbrina]

I'm editing some coding that someone did for me a long time ago and i've come across a different way of doing a while loop than what i'm used to

while (false!==($row = mysql_fetch_array($result))) {

Is that just the same as

while($row = mysql_fetch_array($result)) {

If they aren't the same, whats the difference? If they are the same which one is better to use?

[laserlight]

It is the same. The only difference would be if say, zero is a valid return value, hence you want to continue the loop even if you get a zero (which would otherwise be converted to false). Notice the use of operator !== instead of operator != since the test is for equivalence (i.e., they test the unconverted type as well).

[GreatBigBore]

The two constructs are functionally identical. When there are no more rows, mysql_fetch_array() returns FALSE. Your guy is just explicitly checking the result, while you (and I assume most of us) let the check be implicit. Neither one is better; it's just a matter of style. Speaking as a C/C++ veteran transplanted into the PHP world, I've always found PHP's "flexible" datatype handling a bit confusing, so I do sometimes explicitly check for 'false' in cases where I'm not confident that the result will be the datatype that I'm expecting. Perhaps your guy had similar reservations about PHP.

[GreatBigBore]

Whoa! Laserlight's response is way better than mine. I learn something new every time I read one of Laserlight's posts.