Excessive Blank Lines

Also Known As

TL;DR

Explanation

PSR-12 allows one blank line between code blocks for visual separation but prohibits multiple consecutive blank lines within a class body or function. Excessive blank lines are usually a sign that a function is too long and should be refactored — the blank lines represent mental paragraph breaks that would be better expressed as separate methods. PHP-CS-Fixer's no_extra_blank_lines rule removes them automatically.

Common Misconception

Why It Matters

Common Mistakes

• Two or more blank lines between methods in a class — PSR-12 requires exactly one.
• Blank lines at the start or end of a function body.
• Using blank lines to compensate for a function that is too long — extract methods instead.
• Inconsistent blank line usage making code look unstructured.

Code Examples

<?php
class UserService
{


    private PDO $db;


    public function __construct(PDO $db)
    {

        $this->db = $db;

    }


    public function find(int $id): ?User
    {
        $stmt = $this->db->prepare('SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = ?');


        $stmt->execute([$id]);


        return $stmt->fetchObject(User::class) ?: null;
    }
}

<?php
class UserService
{
    private PDO $db;

    public function __construct(PDO $db)
    {
        $this->db = $db;
    }

    public function find(int $id): ?User
    {
        $stmt = $this->db->prepare('SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = ?');
        $stmt->execute([$id]);
        return $stmt->fetchObject(User::class) ?: null;
    }
}

References

• ↗ https://www.php-fig.org/psr/psr-12/

Tags

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