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PHP 7.4's null coalescing assignment operator (??=) provides a concise way to assign default values only when variables are null or unset. This operator reduces boilerplate code by 75%, eliminates verbose isset() checks, and offers better performance than traditional approaches. The article demonstrates practical use cases including configuration defaults, nested array initialization, and object property defaults, while explaining when to use alternatives for falsy values.

Why ??= Is the PHP Secret Weapon You Didn’t Know You Needed

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YoanDev

Very happy to read articles about PHP being in good shape! Such syntax is a trend that many language implemented for null safety, good to see PHP is part of the good students here too!
context: I left PHP behind for a decade (Symfony was at version 2, and was the “top of the top”, yes I’m old :)

I’m gonna stick with using ISSET() to see if a variable even exists.
See by using this:
$user[‘settings’] ??= ‘default’;
You don’t know if $user[‘settings’] exists before that moment or contains anything.
By using an if statement you actually know what you have before that moment so when it is set to “default” you know why.
Personally this feels like “shoving javascript bad behaviors into PHP because it’s the cool thing to do”
We don’t need it, but here we go, another way for devs to screw up their logic by not manually writing code that checks their variables.
[Sure sure, that’s the OLD way… it still 100% works though]