{"id":27320,"date":"2017-02-10T02:13:30","date_gmt":"2017-02-10T00:13:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/?p=27320"},"modified":"2017-02-10T02:19:18","modified_gmt":"2017-02-10T00:19:18","slug":"php-assertions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mamchenkov.net\/wordpress\/2017\/02\/10\/php-assertions\/","title":{"rendered":"PHP assertions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When I hear the word “assertion”, the first thing that comes to my mind is PHPUnit assertions<\/a>. \u00a0Sure, I write assertions in my unit tests. \u00a0But is that the only application? \u00a0Today I decided to figure it out, or, at least, learn more about the subject.<\/p>\n

It turns out that PHP has assert()<\/a> and assert_options()<\/a> functions. \u00a0And those were there since the ancient times of PHP 4. \u00a0Sounds cool, but how useful are these? \u00a0Well, not that much:<\/p>\n

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Assertions should be used as a debugging feature only. You may use them for sanity-checks that test for conditions that should always be TRUE<\/code><\/strong> and that indicate some programming errors if not or to check for the presence of certain features like extension functions or certain system limits and features.<\/p>\n

Assertions should not be used for normal runtime operations like input parameter checks. As a rule of thumb your code should always be able to work correctly if assertion checking is not activated.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This StackOverflow discussion<\/a> expands a bit on the subject and concludes that assertions are just a developer tool used for troubleshooting and such. Bummer!<\/p>\n

But I’m not that easily stopped. \u00a0Next stop – search for tools and libraries on GitHub<\/a> and Packagist<\/a>. \u00a0There’s more luck here! \u00a0A whole lot of different libraries exist that help with asserting facts and matching values to patterns. \u00a0I’ve checked a few of them and here’s the Top 3 List<\/strong>\u00a0that I’m considering for use in my code:<\/p>\n