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Error Identifier: while.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(): void
{
	while (false) {
		echo 'unreachable';
	}
}

Why is it reported? #

The condition of the while loop always evaluates to false, which means the loop body will never execute. This is dead code and usually indicates a logic error, such as a condition that was incorrectly written or a variable whose type has been narrowed to a state that makes the condition impossible.

How to fix it #

Fix the condition so that the loop can actually execute:

 <?php declare(strict_types = 1);
 
-function doFoo(): void
+function doFoo(bool $condition): void
 {
-	while (false) {
+	while ($condition) {
 		echo 'reachable';
+		$condition = false;
 	}
 }

Or remove the dead code if the loop is no longer needed:

 <?php declare(strict_types = 1);
 
 function doFoo(): void
 {
-	while (false) {
-		echo 'unreachable';
-	}
 }

How to ignore this error #

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

// @phpstan-ignore while.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: while.alwaysFalse

Rules that report this error #

• PHPStan\Rules\Comparison\WhileLoopAlwaysFalseConditionRule [1]

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