Error Identifier: smaller.alwaysFalse

Every error reported by PHPStan has an error identifier. Here’s a list of all error identifiers. In PHPStan Pro you can see the error identifier next to each error and filter errors by their identifiers.

Code example #

<?php declare(strict_types = 1);

function doFoo(int $i): void
{
    if ($i > 5) {
        if ($i < 3) {
            // never reached
        }
    }
}

Why is it reported? #

The < (less than) comparison always evaluates to false because the types of the compared values make it impossible for the condition to be true. In this example, inside the if ($i > 5) branch, the variable $i is known to be of type int<6, max>. Comparing $i < 3 is always false because a value that is at least 6 can never be less than 3.

This usually indicates a logic error or a redundant check that can never be reached.

How to fix it #

Fix the comparison to use the correct value:

 <?php declare(strict_types = 1);
 
 function doFoo(int $i): void
 {
     if ($i > 5) {
-        if ($i < 3) {
+        if ($i < 10) {
             // ...
         }
     }
 }

Or remove the unreachable condition entirely:

 <?php declare(strict_types = 1);
 
 function doFoo(int $i): void
 {
     if ($i > 5) {
-        if ($i < 3) {
-            // never reached
-        }
+        // execute code directly
     }
 }

How to ignore this error #

You can use the identifier smaller.alwaysFalse to ignore this error using a comment:

// @phpstan-ignore smaller.alwaysFalse
codeThatProducesTheError();

You can also use only the identifier key to ignore all errors of the same type in your configuration file in the ignoreErrors parameter:

parameters:
	ignoreErrors:
		-
			identifier: smaller.alwaysFalse

Rules that report this error #

PHPStan\Rules\Comparison\NumberComparisonOperatorsConstantConditionRule [1]

Edit this page on GitHub

Theme