What are the best practices for handling return values in PHP functions to ensure accurate error checking?

When handling return values in PHP functions for error checking, it is best practice to use specific return values to indicate success or failure, rather than relying solely on boolean values. This allows for more detailed error messages and easier debugging. Additionally, using exceptions for error handling can provide a cleaner and more structured approach to dealing with errors. 

function fetchData($data) {
    // Process data
    if ($data) {
        return $processedData;
    } else {
        throw new Exception('Error processing data');
    }
}

try {
    $result = fetchData($data);
    // Handle successful result
} catch (Exception $e) {
    echo 'Error: ' . $e->getMessage();
}

Keywords

return values error checking PHP functions handling best practices

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