---
title: Revisiting the Null Object pattern in Drupal
date: 2024-08-30
permalink: daily/2024/08/30/revisiting-the-null-object-pattern-in-drupal
tags:
  - software-development
  - drupal
  - drupal-module
  - open-source
  - php
  - design-patterns
cta: ~
snippet: |
  Whilst working on my secret side project, today I decided to revisit the Null User Drupal module.
drupal_planet: true
---

The Null Object pattern is one of my favourite ways to DRY up code and reduce duplication.

I wrote the [System User module][0] for a client project a number of years ago, which also included the [Null User module][1].

If no system user is found, it returns a null (empty) user instead that returns null or empty values by default.

Today, [I posted][2] [and tooted][3] a screenshot of some code from a side project I'm working on, which I realised would be another good time to use the Null User module.

In the code, I search for a user with a given licence key.

If a user is found, it is returned.

If not, instead of returning FALSE or NULL, I return a null user object that I can treat the same as a real user.

Now, when I create the node and assign an owner, I can just use `$account->id()` and it will always work if a user was found or not.

This makes the code cleaner, simpler and easier to test and maintain.

[0]: https://www.drupal.org/project/system_user
[1]: https://www.drupal.org/project/null_user
[2]: https://x.com/opdavies/status/1829183673725284772
[3]: https://mastodon.social/@opdavies/113046773292848198