title: PHP shorthand for isset()?
body: <p>Is there a shorthand way to assign a variable to something if it doesn't exist in PHP?</p>
  
  <pre><code>if(!isset($var) {
    $var = "";
  }
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I'd like to do something like</p>
  
  <pre><code>$var = $var | "";
  </code></pre>