What are some best practices for handling null values in comparison functions like version_compare() in PHP to avoid deprecated warnings and ensure consistent application behavior?

When using comparison functions like version_compare() in PHP, it's important to handle null values properly to avoid deprecated warnings and ensure consistent application behavior. One way to do this is by explicitly checking for null values before performing the comparison. By checking for null values and handling them appropriately, you can prevent unexpected errors and ensure that your code behaves as expected.

$version1 = '1.0.0';
$version2 = null;

if ($version2 === null) {
    // Handle the case where $version2 is null
    // For example, you can set it to a default value or skip the comparison
    echo "Version 2 is null";
} else {
    $result = version_compare($version1, $version2);
    // Perform the comparison with non-null values
    echo "Comparison result: " . $result;
}