PHP provides a variety of operators that allow you to perform operations on variables, values, and expressions. Here are some of the most commonly used PHP operators categorized by their functionality:
Operators are used to perform operations on variables and values.
PHP divides the operators in the following groups:
The PHP arithmetic operators are used with numeric values to perform common arithmetical operations, such as addition, subtraction, multiplication etc.
| Operator | Name | Example | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| + | Addition | $x = 100 + 50; | $x = 150; |
| - | Subtraction | $x = 100 - 50; | $x = 50; |
| * | Multiplication | $x = 100 * 50; | $x = 5000; |
| / | Division | $x = 100 / 50; | $x = 2; |
| % | Modulus | $x = 100 % 3; | $x = 1; |
| ** | Exponentiation | $x = 2 ** 3; | $x = 8; |
The PHP assignment operators are used with numeric values to write a value 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.
| 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 /= y | Division |
| x %= y | x = x % y | Modulus |
The PHP comparison operators are used to compare two values (number or string):
| Operator | Name | Example | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| == | Equal | $x == $y | Returns true if $x is equal to $y |
| === | Identical | $x === $y | Returns true if $x is equal to $y, and they are of the same type |
| != | Not equal | $x != $y | Returns true if $x is not equal to $y |
| <> | Not equal | $x <> $y | Returns true if $x is not equal to $y |
| !== | Not identical | $x !== $y | Returns true if $x is not equal to $y, or they are not of the same type |
| > | Greater than | $x > $y | Returns true if $x is greater than $y |
| < | Less than | $x < $y | Returns true if $x is less than $y |
| >= | Greater than or equal to | $x >= $y | Returns true if $x is greater than or equal to $y |
| <= | Less than or equal to | $x <= $y | Returns true if $x is less than or equal to $y |
| <=> | Spaceship | $x <=> $y | Returns an integer less than, equal to, or greater than zero, depending on if $x is less than, equal to, or greater than $y. |
The PHP increment operators are used to increment a variable's value.
The PHP decrement operators are used to decrement a variable's value.
| Operator | Same as... | Description |
|---|---|---|
| ++$x | Pre-increment | Increments $x by one, then returns $x. |
| $x++ | Post-increment | Return $x, then increments $x by one. |
| --$x | Pre-decrement | Decrements $x by one, then returns $x. |
| $x-- | Post-decrement | Return $x, then decrements $x by one. |
The PHP logical operators are used to combine conditional statements.
| Operator | Name | Example | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| and | And | $x and $y | True if both $x and $y are true |
| or | Or | $x or $y | True if either $x or $y is true |
| xor | Xor | $x xor $y | True if either $x or $y is true, but not both |
| && | And | $x && $y | True if both $x and $y are true |
| || | Or | $x || $y | True if either $x or $y is true |
| ! | Not | !$x | True if $x is not true |
PHP has two operators that are specially designed for strings.
| Operator | Name | Example | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| . | Concatenation operator | $txt1 . $txt2 | Concatenation of $txt1 and $txt2 | |
| .= | Concatenation assignment operator | $txt1 .= $txt2 | Concatenation assignment operator |
The PHP array operators are used to compare arrays.
| Operator | Name | Example | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| + | Union | $x + $y | Union of $x and $y |
| == | Equality | $x == $y | Returns true if $x and $y have the same key/value pairs |
| === | Identity | $x === $y | Returns true if $x and $y have the same key/value pairs in the same order and of the same types |
| != | Not equal | $x != $y | Returns true if $x is not equal to $y |
| <> | Not equal | $x <> $y | Returns true if $x is not equal to $y |
| !== | Not identical | $x !== $y | Returns true if $x is not identical to $y |
The PHP conditional assignment operators are used to set a value depending on conditions:
| Operator | Name | Example | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| ?: | Ternary | $x = expr1 ? expr2 : expr3 | Returns the value of $x. The value of $x is expr2 if expr1 = TRUE. The value of $x is expr3 if expr1 = FALSE |
| ?? | Null coalescing | $x = expr1 ?? expr2 | Returns the value of $x. The value of $x is expr1 if expr1 exists, and is not NULL. If expr1 does not exist, or is NULL, the value of $x is expr2. Introduced in PHP 7 |