--- title: [VOTE] __exists(), a magic method for distinguishing... description: A PHP RFC proposing a new `__exists()` magic method to distinguish between a property being absent versus explicitly set to null has been put to a vote and... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/vote-exists-a-magic-method-for-distinguishing-missing-from-set-to-nul-73evxof7d twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: [VOTE] __exists(), a magic method for distinguishing "missing" from "set to nul | daily.dev og:description: A PHP RFC proposing a new `__exists()` magic method to distinguish between a property being absent versus explicitly set to null has been put to a vote and... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/vote-exists-a-magic-method-for-distinguishing-missing-from-set-to-nul-73evxof7d og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/73eVxof7D.png og:image:alt: [VOTE] __exists(), a magic method for distinguishing "missing" from "set to nul og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # [VOTE] __exists(), a magic method for distinguishing "missing" from "set to nul **[externals.io](https://daily.dev/sources/externals)** · 1 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A PHP RFC proposing a new `__exists()` magic method to distinguish between a property being absent versus explicitly set to null has been put to a vote and declined by the PHP internals team, with 2 votes in favor and 13 against. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [\[RFC\] \_\_exists\(\), a magic method for distinguishing "missing" from "set to null"](https://daily.dev/posts/rfc-exists-a-magic-method-for-distinguishing-missing-from-set-to-null--vrmwlz2zg) · externals.io · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [\[RFC\] \_\_exists\(\), a magic method for distinguishing "missing" from "set to null"](https://daily.dev/posts/rfc-exists-a-magic-method-for-distinguishing-missing-from-set-to-null--paun2slqj) · externals.io · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [\[RFC\] \[VOTE\] array\_get and array\_has functions](https://daily.dev/posts/rfc-vote-array-get-and-array-has-functions-gqcfp6xn1) · externals.io · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#php](https://daily.dev/tags/php) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/vote-exists-a-magic-method-for-distinguishing-missing-from-set-to-nul-73evxof7d) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"[VOTE] __exists(), a magic method for distinguishing \"missing\" from \"set to nul","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/vote-exists-a-magic-method-for-distinguishing-missing-from-set-to-nul-73evxof7d","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/vote-exists-a-magic-method-for-distinguishing-missing-from-set-to-nul-73evxof7d"},"datePublished":"2026-06-30T09:29:24.512Z","dateModified":"2026-06-30T09:29:40.627Z","description":"A PHP RFC proposing a new `__exists()` magic method to distinguish between a property being absent versus explicitly set to null has been put to a vote and...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--P4t4XyoV--/f_auto/v1722860399/public/Placeholder%2001","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--P4t4XyoV--/f_auto/v1722860399/public/Placeholder%2001","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"externals.io","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"externals.io","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--9i0zxASK--/f_auto,q_auto/v1780213616/logos/externals?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/externals"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/vote-exists-a-magic-method-for-distinguishing-missing-from-set-to-nul-73evxof7d","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"php","timeRequired":"PT1M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"externals.io","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/externals"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"[VOTE] __exists(), a magic method for distinguishing \"missing\" from \"set to nul"}]} ```