php - Should I call exit() after calling Location: header?

Question

After calling the redirect function header, should I call exit or not?

Answer 1

It's generally good practice to exit; (note - it's a keyword, so you don't need the ()) after sending a Location: header, since browsers are supposed to redirect to the new page and so further execution of the current script is usually undesired.

Answer 2

You should, just like @rgroli explains. If you do not want to bother with brackets, you can also call header() IN exit():

if(sth) exit(header("Location: http://example.com"));

Location header in HTTP/1.1 always requires absolute path see the note here.

Note: This is not a hack, since the exit code is used only if the parameter is integer, while header() produces void (it exits with code=0, normal exit). Look at it as exit_header() function like it should be after Location header.

Answer 3

You definitely should. Otherwise the script execution is not terminated. Setting another header alone is not enough to redirect.

Answer 4

If you don't have any code (PHP or HTML) under header, you don't have to.

Answer 5

exit is bad coding.

if you ever develop a big project and want to create PHP Unit Testcases, exit will screw you up.

exit terminates the script and your running test! there is no way to recover the test and tell if it has failed or not ...

organise your code the way, that there is no output and the script ends naturally if you use a redirect ...