PHP Operators

HP operators are the essential tools you use to perform calculations, comparisons, and manipulations on data within your code. They act as the glue that connects variables, values, and expressions to achieve the desired outcome.

PHP divides the operators in the following groups:

• Arithmetic operators : Examples: +, -, *, /, %
• Assignment operators : Examples: =, +=, -=, *=, /=, %=
• Comparison operators : Examples: == (equal to), != (not equal to), < (less than), > (greater than), <= (less than or equal to), >= (greater than or equal to)
• Increment/Decrement operators : Pre-increment (++) and post-increment (++) or pre-decrement (--) and post-decrement (--) variations exist, affecting the order of operations.
• Logical operators : Examples: && (AND), || (OR), ! (NOT)
• String operators : Examples: . (concatenation), === (identical string comparison)
• Array operators : Examples: + (concatenation), == (loose comparison)
• Conditional assignment operators : Example: $result = ($age >= 18) ? "adult" : "minor";

• PHP Arithmetic Operators

The PHP arithmetic operators are used with numeric values to perform common arithmetical operations, such as addition, subtraction, multiplication etc.

Example

Operator	Name	Description	Example
+	Addition	Adds together two values	$a + $b
-	Subtraction	Subtracts one value from another	$a - $b
*	Multiplications	Multiplies two values	$a * $b
*	Division	Quotient of operands	$a / $b
%	Modulus	Remainder of operands	$a % $b
**	Exponentiation	$a raised to the power $b	$a ** $b

• PHP Assignment Operators

Assignment operators in PHP are used to assign values to variables. They combine the assignment symbol (=) with other operators to perform various operations and assign the result to a variable.

The basic assignment operator in PHP is "=". It means that the left operand gets set to the value of the assignment expression on the right.

Example

Assignment	Same as...	Description
x = y	x = y	The left operand gets set to the value of the expression on the right
x += y	x = x + y	Addition
x -= y	x = x - y	Subtraction
x *= y	x = x * y	Multiplication
x /= y	x = x / y	Division
x %= y	x = x % y	Modulus

• PHP Comparison Operators

PHP Comparison Operators Comparison operators are used in PHP to evaluate the relationship between two values and return a boolean (true or false) result based on the comparison.

Example

Operator	Name	Description	Example
==	Equal	Returns true if $x is equal to $y	$x == $y
===	Identical	Returns true if $x is equal to $y, and they are of the same type	$x === $y
!=	Not equal	Returns true if $x is not equal to $y	$x != $y
<>	Not equal	Returns true if $x is not equal to $y	$x <> $y
!==	Not identical	Returns true if $x is not equal to $y, or they are not of the same type	$x !== $y
>	Greater than	Returns true if $x is greater than $y	$x > $y
!==	Not identical	Returns true if $x is not equal to $y, or they are not of the same type	$x !== $y
>	Greater than	Returns true if $x is greater than $y	$x > $y
!==	Not identical	Returns true if $x is not equal to $y, or they are not of the same type	$x !== $y
>	Greater than	Returns true if $x is greater than $y	$x > $y
<	Less than	Returns true if $x is less than $y	$x < $y
>=	Greater than or equal to	Returns true if $x is greater than or equal to $y	$x >= $y
<=	Less than or equal to	Returns true if $x is less than or equal to $y	$x <= $y
<=>	Spaceship	Returns an integer less than, equal to, or greater than zero, depending on if $x is less than, equal to, or greater than $y.	$x <=> $y

• PHP Increment / Decrement Operators

The PHP increment operators are used to increment a variable's value.

The PHP decrement operators are used to decrement a variable's value.

Example

Assignment	Same as...	Description
++$x	Pre-increment	Increments $x by one, then returns $x
$x++	Post-increment	Returns $x, then increments $x by one
--$x	Pre-decrement	Decrements $x by one, then returns $x
$x--	Post-decrement	Returns $x, then decrements $x by one
x /= y	x = x / y	Division
x %= y	x = x % y	Modulus

• PHP Logical Operators

The PHP logical operators are used to combine conditional statements.

Example

Operator	Name	Description	Example
and	And	True if both $x and $y are true	$x and $y
or	Or	True if either $x or $y is true	$x or $y
xor	Xor	True if either $x or $y is true, but not both	$x xor $y
&&	And	True if both $x and $y are true	$x && $y
\|\|	Or	True if either $x or $y is true	$x \|\| $y
!	Not	True if $x is not true	!$x

• PHP String Operators

PHP has two operators that are specially designed for strings.

Example

Operator	Name	Description	Example
.	Concatenation	Concatenation of $txt1 and $txt2	$txt1 . $txt2
.=	Concatenation assignment	Appends $txt2 to $txt1	$txt1 .= $txt2

• PHP Array Operators

The PHP array operators are used to compare arrays.

Example

Operator	Name	Description	Example
+	Union	Union of $x and $y	$x + $y
==	Equality	Returns true if $x and $y have the same key/value pairs	$x == $y
===	Identity	Returns true if $x and $y have the same key/value pairs in the same order and of the same types	$x === $y
!=	Inequality	Returns true if $x is not equal to $y	$x != $y
<>	Inequality	Returns true if $x is not equal to $y	$x <> $y
!==	Non-identity	Returns true if $x is not identical to $y	$x !== $y