Checking if a variable is an integer in PHP

Solution 1:

Using is_numeric() for checking if a variable is an integer is a bad idea. This function will return TRUE for 3.14 for example. It's not the expected behavior.

To do this correctly, you can use one of these options:

Considering this variables array :

$variables = [
    "TEST 0" => 0,
    "TEST 1" => 42,
    "TEST 2" => 4.2,
    "TEST 3" => .42,
    "TEST 4" => 42.,
    "TEST 5" => "42",
    "TEST 6" => "a42",
    "TEST 7" => "42a",
    "TEST 8" => 0x24,
    "TEST 9" => 1337e0
];

The first option (FILTER_VALIDATE_INT way) :

# Check if your variable is an integer
if ( filter_var($variable, FILTER_VALIDATE_INT) === false ) {
  echo "Your variable is not an integer";
}

Output :

TEST 0 : 0 (type:integer) is an integer ✔
TEST 1 : 42 (type:integer) is an integer ✔
TEST 2 : 4.2 (type:double) is not an integer ✘
TEST 3 : 0.42 (type:double) is not an integer ✘
TEST 4 : 42 (type:double) is an integer ✔
TEST 5 : 42 (type:string) is an integer ✔
TEST 6 : a42 (type:string) is not an integer ✘
TEST 7 : 42a (type:string) is not an integer ✘
TEST 8 : 36 (type:integer) is an integer ✔
TEST 9 : 1337 (type:double) is an integer ✔

The second option (CASTING COMPARISON way) :

# Check if your variable is an integer
if ( strval($variable) !== strval(intval($variable)) ) {
  echo "Your variable is not an integer";
}

Output :

TEST 0 : 0 (type:integer) is an integer ✔
TEST 1 : 42 (type:integer) is an integer ✔
TEST 2 : 4.2 (type:double) is not an integer ✘
TEST 3 : 0.42 (type:double) is not an integer ✘
TEST 4 : 42 (type:double) is an integer ✔
TEST 5 : 42 (type:string) is an integer ✔
TEST 6 : a42 (type:string) is not an integer ✘
TEST 7 : 42a (type:string) is not an integer ✘
TEST 8 : 36 (type:integer) is an integer ✔
TEST 9 : 1337 (type:double) is an integer ✔

The third option (CTYPE_DIGIT way) :

# Check if your variable is an integer
if ( ! ctype_digit(strval($variable)) ) {
  echo "Your variable is not an integer";
}

Output :

TEST 0 : 0 (type:integer) is an integer ✔
TEST 1 : 42 (type:integer) is an integer ✔
TEST 2 : 4.2 (type:double) is not an integer ✘
TEST 3 : 0.42 (type:double) is not an integer ✘
TEST 4 : 42 (type:double) is an integer ✔
TEST 5 : 42 (type:string) is an integer ✔
TEST 6 : a42 (type:string) is not an integer ✘
TEST 7 : 42a (type:string) is not an integer ✘
TEST 8 : 36 (type:integer) is an integer ✔
TEST 9 : 1337 (type:double) is an integer ✔

The fourth option (REGEX way) :

# Check if your variable is an integer
if ( ! preg_match('/^\d+$/', $variable) ) {
  echo "Your variable is not an integer";
}

Output :

TEST 0 : 0 (type:integer) is an integer ✔
TEST 1 : 42 (type:integer) is an integer ✔
TEST 2 : 4.2 (type:double) is not an integer ✘
TEST 3 : 0.42 (type:double) is not an integer ✘
TEST 4 : 42 (type:double) is an integer ✔
TEST 5 : 42 (type:string) is an integer ✔
TEST 6 : a42 (type:string) is not an integer ✘
TEST 7 : 42a (type:string) is not an integer ✘
TEST 8 : 36 (type:integer) is an integer ✔
TEST 9 : 1337 (type:double) is an integer ✔

Solution 2:

All $_GET parameters have a string datatype, therefore, is_int will always return false.

You can see this by calling var_dump:

var_dump($_GET['p']); // string(2) "54"

Using is_numeric will provide the desired result (mind you, that allows values such as: 0x24).

Solution 3:

When the browser sends p in the querystring, it is received as a string, not an int. is_int() will therefore always return false.

Instead try is_numeric() or ctype_digit()

Solution 4:

Just for kicks, I tested out a few of the mentioned methods, plus one I've used as my go to solution for years when I know my input is a positive number or string equivalent.

I tested this with 125,000 iterations, with each iteration passing in the same set of variable types and values.

Method 1: is_int($value) || ctype_digit($value)
Method 2: (string)(int)$value == (string)$value
Method 3: strval(intval($value)) === strval($value)
Method 4: ctype_digit(strval($value))
Method 5: filter_var($value, FILTER_VALIDATE_INT) !== FALSE
Method 6: is_int($value) || ctype_digit($value) || (is_string($value) && $value[0] === '-' && filter_var($value, FILTER_VALIDATE_INT) !== FALSE)

Method 1: 0.0552167892456
Method 2: 0.126773834229
Method 3: 0.143012046814
Method 4: 0.0979189872742
Method 5: 0.112988948822
Method 6: 0.0858821868896

(I didn't even test the regex, I mean, seriously... regex for this?)

Things to note:
Method 4 always returns false for negative numbers (negative integer or string equivalent), so is a good method to consistently detect that a value is a positive integer.
Method 1 returns true for a negative integer, but false for a string equivalent of a negative integer, so don't use this method unless you are certain your input will never contain a negative number in string or integer form, and that if it does, your process won't break from this behavior.

Conclusions
So it seems that if you are certain that your input will not include a negative number, then it is almost twice as fast to use is_int and ctype_digit to validate that you have an integer. Using Method 1 with a fallback to method 5 when the variable is a string and the first character is a dash is the next fastest (especially when a majority of the input is actual integers or positive numbers in a string). All in all, if you need solid consistency, and you have no idea what the mix of data is coming in, and you must handle negatives in a consistent fashion, filter_var($value, FILTER_VALIDATE_INT) !== FALSE wins.

Code used to get the output above:

$u = "-10";
$v = "0";
$w = 0;
$x = "5";
$y = "5c";
$z = 1.44;

function is_int1($value){
    return (is_int($value) || ctype_digit($value));
}

function is_int2($value) {
    return ((string)(int)$value == (string)$value);
}

function is_int3($value) {
    return (strval(intval($value)) === strval($value));
}

function is_int4($value) {
    return (ctype_digit(strval($value)));
}

function is_int5($value) {
    return filter_var($value, FILTER_VALIDATE_INT) !== FALSE;
}

function is_int6($value){
    return (is_int($value) || ctype_digit($value) || (is_string($value) && $value[0] === '-' && filter_var($value, FILTER_VALIDATE_INT)) !== FALSE);
}

$start = microtime(TRUE);
for ($i=0; $i < 125000; $i++) {
  is_int1($u);
  is_int1($v);
  is_int1($w);
  is_int1($x);
  is_int1($y);
  is_int1($z);
}
$stop = microtime(TRUE);
$start2 = microtime(TRUE);
for ($j=0; $j < 125000; $j++) {
  is_int2($u);
  is_int2($v);
  is_int2($w);
  is_int2($x);
  is_int2($y);
  is_int2($z);
}
$stop2 = microtime(TRUE);
$start3 = microtime(TRUE);
for ($k=0; $k < 125000; $k++) {
  is_int3($u);
  is_int3($v);
  is_int3($w);
  is_int3($x);
  is_int3($y);
  is_int3($z);
}
$stop3 = microtime(TRUE);
$start4 = microtime(TRUE);
for ($l=0; $l < 125000; $l++) {
  is_int4($u);
  is_int4($v);
  is_int4($w);
  is_int4($x);
  is_int4($y);
  is_int4($z);
}
$stop4 = microtime(TRUE); 

$start5 = microtime(TRUE);
for ($m=0; $m < 125000; $m++) {
  is_int5($u);
  is_int5($v);
  is_int5($w);
  is_int5($x);
  is_int5($y);
  is_int5($z);
}
$stop5 = microtime(TRUE); 

$start6 = microtime(TRUE);
for ($n=0; $n < 125000; $n++) {
  is_int6($u);
  is_int6($v);
  is_int6($w);
  is_int6($x);
  is_int6($y);
  is_int6($z);
}
$stop6 = microtime(TRUE); 

$time = $stop - $start;  
$time2 = $stop2 - $start2;  
$time3 = $stop3 - $start3;  
$time4 = $stop4 - $start4;  
$time5 = $stop5 - $start5;  
$time6 = $stop6 - $start6;  
print "**Method 1:** $time <br>";
print "**Method 2:** $time2 <br>";
print "**Method 3:** $time3 <br>";
print "**Method 4:** $time4 <br>";  
print "**Method 5:** $time5 <br>";  
print "**Method 6:** $time6 <br>";