What is this PHP shortcode means? is_array($data) OR $data = (array) $data

What is this PHP code means ?

is_array($data) OR $data = (array) $开发者_StackOverflow中文版data

I see this code on PyroCMS

OR is a short-circuit operator. If the left side is true, the right side will not be evaluated. It basically says "if $data is not an array, cast it to an array".

Note that this is rather redundant and could be abbreviated to:

$data = (array)$data;

This has the same effect. If it already is an array, casting to an array will do nothing, otherwise it will cast to an array.

It tests if $data is an array, and casts it to one if it isn't.

It is equal to:

if (!is_array($data)) $data = (array) $data

That code type casts $data to an array, if it's not an array.

More information on type casting - http://php.net/manual/en/language.types.type-juggling.php

It's a (terrible in my opinion) hackish way of writing:

if(!is_array($data)) {
    $data = (array) $data;
}

Which is basically forcing the $data variable to be an array.

Don't write code like this. It's hard to process (mentally), and doesn't save any time. :-)