Providing default values for fields, I find myself using the following syntax a lot:

$a = $result->f('asd'); if (!$a) $a = 'nothing';

$a = ($result->f('asd') ? $result->f('asd') : 'nothing');

Generally:

$a = ($x ? $x : $y);

It would be handy to have a shorthand for this that would easy typing, legibility, and avoid duplicate evaluation of $x.

Proposed syntax (not fussy)

$x ?: $y

i.e. if 'value if true' is empty, use 'condition value'.