ZCPE 5.5 here we go – PHP Basics (Language constructs)

Zend divided language constructs in three main categories output construct, evaluation construct and others constructs, you can find this division in zend study guide for PHP 5.5 exam.

Output

Construct Description
die / exit Used to output a result and then terminate the running script
echo / print Used to output a result
return Used to halt a execution of a function or a script

Evaluation

Construct Description
empty Used to identify if an variable is empty (without an value)
eval Used to evaluate string content
include/include_once Used to include a file (using this just a warning is thrown if the file not exists)
require/require_once Used to include a file (using this a fatal error is thrown)

Others

Construct Description
isset Used to identify if a variable exists
unset Used to unset(“delete”) an existing variable
list Used to make easier to use an array values

What is the difference?

You can argue that those language constructs are just regular functions and they haven’t anything in special, but actually they have. In PHP language constructs can be used with or without parentheses, so let’s illustrate:

<?php
require 'foo/bar.php';   //valid
require ('foo/bar.php'); //valid

Both are correct to use, but it is recommended to do not use with parentheses for the sake of good practice. Therefore we aren’t allowed to use any function provided by PHP without parentheses:

<?php
$a = [];
$b = [];

array_merge($a, $b); //valid
array_merge $a, $b;  //invalid

Some posts in the internet said language constructs are faster than built-in functions, but we must remember that it is a matter of microseconds and I think it is worthless to bother about it.