Should I be using assert in my PHP code?
A coworker has added the assert command a few times within our libraries in places where I would have used an if statement and thrown an exception. (I had never even heard of assert before this.) Here is an example of how he used it: assert('isset($this->records); /* Records must be set before this is called. */'); I would have done: if (!isset($this->records)) { throw new Exception('Records must be set before this is called'); } From reading the PHP docs on assert , it looks like it's recommended that you make sure assert is active and add a handler before using assert. I can't find a place