Which method is best to verify contents of a variable.

preg_match() or is_int()

[endtheme]

A script gets a variable,

$_GET['id']

, through the URL, such as,

?id=3523415

Which is the best way to verify that the variable only contains numbers? Would it be:

a.

preg_match("~^[0-9]+$~",$_GET['id'])

or

b.

is_int($_GET['id'])

[endtheme]

Hmm, it just occurred to me that integers can be negative, therefore a value such as,

-30

would return true in scenario b, and false in a. I suspect I've answered my own question then.

[rob7591]

If you only want it to be positive numbers you can do
if ($_GET['id'] > 0 && is_int($_GET['id'])

regexp can slow you down sometimes..

[RonPK]

$_GET variables are always strings, so testing them with is_int() will always return false.