Good practice in comparing 0/1 values from mysql in php

[bulletproof-coding]

Take this type of column for example

is_enabled enum('1','0') COLLATE utf8mb3_unicode_ci DEFAULT '0',

It will play tricks on you if you update it to 0 as int in mysql 8 ( It will become empty string).

The laravel migration with boolean converts it like:

is_enabled tinyint(1) DEFAULT '0',

In both cases this is what saved me from having to fix bugs in code:

if ((string)$model->is_enabled !== '1') {
}

if ((string)$model->is_enabled === '1') {
}

So never compare with anything but 1 as string.

UPDATE
the db migration converted '' to 0, '1' to 1 and '0' to, pay attention 2 :))))

[ahinkle]

Have you tried using an Attribute Cast of boolean?

[bulletproof-coding]

I have a golden rule. From mysql I can receive, int, string, null. All my comparisons are converted to strings just like in the above example to avoid type differences (or handled as null).

[ahinkle]

That's definitely not a typical approach, but hey, to each their own. 🙂

[bulletproof-coding]

I see casts as unnecessary for mysql at least. Casting to string will not change the value except for null. Cast to int can change it (strings become 0).
Also avoiding casts makes the list faster especially when downloading hundred thousands rows.

[henzeb]

if you do it in query: be sure to do an actual comparison. where is_enabled is not using indexes, but where is_enabled=1 does.

[bulletproof-coding]

@henzeb Thanks. I did not knew that. But I never use where like that except for where 1or where 0.