refactor IF statement with multiple returns

I have a code similar to this:

if($a) {
  return $a;
} elseif($b) {
  return $b;
} elseif($c) {
  return $c;
} else {
  return $d;
} 

it is honestly not so looking good but I need to check the variables to respect some sort of priority order. I was guessing if there is a better way to write this?

Answer

You can use a switch / case where the condition is TRUE.

Example:

switch (TRUE) {

  case (isset($a)) : return $a; break;
  case (isset($b)) : return $b; break;
  case (isset($c)) : return $c; break;

  default : return $d;

}

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Further Reading:

• https://www.php.net/manual/en/control-structures.switch.php