Using PHP's empty() Instead of isset() and count()

empty_isset_count.php

//Work with data arrays in PHP 
//A way to pass information around or store information in sessions.
//When you work with these, you can't always assume that all properties are defined. 
//I had some conditional logic code in PHP that was only supposed to execute if an array contained any values:

$data = array(
   'text' => array( 'hello', 'world' ),
   'numbers' => array( 43, 2, 55 )
);

//But then I was in a situation where $data['text'] may or may not be defined. 
//So I was going to update my if statement like so:

if (count($data['text'])) {
   // do something with $data['text']
}

//But that looks kind of messy. I don't really like isset() but it is a necessary evil to avoid "Undefined" errors. Or is it?

if (!empty($data['text'])) {
   // do something
}

//empty() to the rescue - it returns true if $data['text'] is undefined, 
//or if it is an empty array, or if it is false or null or 0. 
//So !empty() is what I'm really trying to determine, and it works great.

//For more info, see: empty() at PHP.net.