XAMPP php executing both if and else parts - php

Question

It is strange. My php code is executing both if and else parts. Following code starts where $_SESSION['abc'] is not set yet.
//echo $_SESSION['abc'];
if(!isset($_SESSION['abc'])){
echo "not showing this echo";
$_SESSION['abc'] = "new";
} else {
echo " why it jumps here, in XAMPP?";
}
My actual code was more complex so I did it simpler as above. The above code is not echoing "not showing this echo"; even when $_SESSION['abc'] is not set. If I comment out the statement $_SESSION['abc'] = "new"; it echoes "not showing this echo".
What I found out by now:
It is happening only in XAMPP, at production server same is working fine.
It happens when I make the else condition true in the if block. And that condition is setting a session variable.
I myself thought the code is executing twice or something but it is not.
And more importantly "if" condition is true, if you uncomment first line echo $_SESSION['abc'];, it will show undefined index error.
The weirdest feeling for me is, when it reaches $_SESSION['abc'] = "new"; in "if" block, it jumps to "else", ignoring the echo line before it.
Weird!! Am I missing something or it is a XAMPP bug. Yes, the code is working as expected, on production server.
EDIT:
I would like to add that only for this behavior I also reinstalled XAMPP (for the latest version).
And as to "how do I know if it sets session variable, while not echo the line before it", it prints echo $_SESSION['abc']; in else-block, but it shows undefined index error if I uncomment first line echo $_SESSION['abc'];
Code with echo line added in else-block.
//echo $_SESSION['abc'];
if(!isset($_SESSION['abc'])){
echo "not showing this echo";
$_SESSION['abc'] = "new";
} else {
echo " why it jumps here, in XAMPP?";
echo $_SESSION['abc'];
}
UPDATE 2018-06-03
I was doing the above code in Laravel. I tried the above code out of Laravel framework in a plain PHP file and it worked in XAMPP, as it should. So the new information is, this is not working in Laravel-XAMPP combination. Versions: Laravel 5.4 and XAMPP 7.2.5
NOW??

Answer 1

I'm not sure what you want to achieve. It looks like you are testing $_SESSION before you assign a value to your session key.
Do a print_r ($_SESSION) to become clear when which value is assigned. And which value is stored after you reload your session. You can also printout your statement to see the result like echo (!isset(value)) as an example.
session_start ();
print_r ($_SESSION);
if (!isset ($_SESSION ['whatever'])){
echo "not set";
print_r ($_SESSION);
}
else {
echo "set";
print_r ($_SESSION);
}
Also try to change the first statement to be true if set and assign your new value in the else block
session_start ();
print_r ($_SESSION);
if (isset ($_SESSION ['whatever'])){
echo "set";
print_r ($_SESSION);
}
else {
echo "not set";
print_r ($_SESSION);
$_SESSION['whatever'] = "new value";
}
Hopefully it helps to find the faulty place
Edit
Be sure to use
session_start()
at very first line
or to set
session.auto_start = 1
in your php.ini