title: How to avoid isset() and empty()
body: <p>I have several older applications that throw a lot of "xyz is undefined" and "undefined offset" messages when running on the E_NOTICE error level, because the existence of variables is not explicitly checked using <code>isset()</code> and consorts.</p>
  
  <p>I am considering working through them to make them E_NOTICE compatible, as notices about missing variables or offsets can be lifesavers, there may be some minor performance improvements to be gained, and it's overall the cleaner way. </p>
  
  <p>However, I don't like what inflicting hundreds of <code>isset()</code> <code>empty()</code> and <code>array_key_exists()</code> s does to my code. It gets bloated, becomes less readable, without gaining anything in terms of value or meaning. </p>
  
  <p>How can I structure my code without an excess of variable checks, while also being E_NOTICE compatible?</p>