It’d be nice if PHP had a quick Or-Equals expression like Ruby:
user ||= User.new
but we make do with few slightly less sugary idioms.
The standard way
if (isset($user)) { $user = new User(); }
A bit shorter
$user = isset($user) ? $user : new User();
Shorter still
This is my preferred way of making sure variables are set. Short and clear.
isset($user) || $user = new User();
Expressions with defaults
It’s usually best not to treat variable assignments as booleans but in cases like this I think it’s clear enough what’s happening.
($user = $request->getUser()) || $user = new User();