PHP Operators

Operators are used to perform operations on variables and values.

For example:

$num=10+20;//+ is the operator and 10,20 are operands

In the above example, + is the binary + operator, 10 and 20 are operands and $num is variable.

PHP divides the operators in the following groups:

  • Arithmetic Operators
  • Assignment Operators
  • Bitwise Operators
  • Comparison Operators
  • Incrementing/Decrementing Operators
  • Logical Operators
  • String Operators
  • Array Operators
  • Conditional assignment operators

We can also categorize operators on behalf of operands. They can be categorized in 3 forms:

  • Unary Operators: works on single operands such as ++, — etc.
  • Binary Operators: works on two operands such as binary +, -, *, / etc.
  • Ternary Operators: works on three operands such as “?:”.

PHP Arithmetic Operators

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

Operator Name Example Explanation
+ Addition $a + $b Sum of operands
Subtraction $a – $b Difference of operands
* Multiplication $a * $b Product of operands
/ Division $a / $b Quotient of operands
% Modulus $a % $b Remainder of operands
** Exponentiation $a ** $b $a raised to the power $b

PHP Assignment Operators

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.

Operator Name Example Explanation
= Assign $a = $b The value of right operand is assigned to the left operand.
+= Add then Assign $a += $b Addition same as $a = $a + $b
-= Subtract then Assign $a -= $b Subtraction same as $a = $a – $b
*= Multiply then Assign $a *= $b Multiplication same as $a = $a * $b
/= Divide then Assign
(quotient)
$a /= $b Find quotient same as $a = $a / $b
%= Divide then Assign
(remainder)
$a %= $b Find remainder same as $a = $a % $b

PHP Bitwise Operators

The bitwise operators are used to perform bit-level operations on operands. These operators allow the evaluation and manipulation of specific bits within the integer.

Operator Name Example Explanation
& And $a & $b Bits that are 1 in both $a and $b are set to 1, otherwise 0.
| Or (Inclusive or) $a | $b Bits that are 1 in either $a or $b are set to 1
^ Xor (Exclusive or) $a ^ $b Bits that are 1 in either $a or $b are set to 0.
~ Not ~$a Bits that are 1 set to 0 and bits that are 0 are set to 1
<< Shift left $a << $b Left shift the bits of operand $a $b steps
>> Shift right $a >> $b Right shift the bits of $a operand by $b number of places

PHP Comparison Operators

The PHP comparison operators are used to compare two values (number or string):

Operator Name Example Explanation
== Equal $a == $b Return TRUE if $a is equal to $b
=== Identical $a === $b Return TRUE if $a is equal to $b, and they are of same data type
!== Not identical $a !== $b Return TRUE if $a is not equal to $b, and they are not of same data type
!= Not equal $a != $b Return TRUE if $a is not equal to $b
<> Not equal $a <> $b Return TRUE if $a is not equal to $b
< Less than $a < $b Return TRUE if $a is less than $b
> Greater than $a > $b Return TRUE if $a is greater than $b
<= Less than or equal to $a <= $b Return TRUE if $a is less than or equal $b
>= Greater than or equal to $a >= $b Return TRUE if $a is greater than or equal $b
<=> Spaceship $a <=>$b Return -1 if $a is less than $b
Return 0 if $a is equal $b
Return 1 if $a is greater than $b

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.
Operator Name Example Explanation
++ Increment ++$a Increment the value of $a by one, then return $a
$a++ Return $a, then increment the value of $a by one
decrement –$a Decrement the value of $a by one, then return $a
$a– Return $a, then decrement the value of $a by one

PHP Logical Operators

The PHP logical operators are used to combine conditional statements.

Operator Name Example Explanation
and And $a and $b Return TRUE if both $a and $b are true
Or Or $a or $b Return TRUE if either $a or $b is true
xor Xor $a xor $b Return TRUE if either $ or $b is true but not both
! Not ! $a Return TRUE if $a is not true
&& And $a && $b Return TRUE if either $a and $b are true
|| Or $a || $b Return TRUE if either $a or $b is true

PHP String Operators

PHP has two operators that are specially designed for strings.

Operator Name Example Explanation
. Concatenation $a . $b Concatenate both $a and $b
.= Concatenation and Assignment $a .= $b First concatenate $a and $b, then assign the concatenated string to $a, e.g. $a = $a . $b

PHP Array Operators

The PHP array operators are used to compare arrays.

Operator Name Example Explanation
+ Union $a + $y Union of $a and $b
== Equality $a == $b Return TRUE if $a and $b have same key/value pair
!= Inequality $a != $b Return TRUE if $a is not equal to $b
=== Identity $a === $b Return TRUE if $a and $b have same key/value pair of same type in same order
!== Non-Identity $a !== $b Return TRUE if $a is not identical to $b
<> Inequality $a <> $b Return TRUE if $a is not equal to $b

PHP Conditional Assignment Operators

The PHP conditional assignment operators are used to set a value depending on conditions:

Operator Name Example Explanation
?: 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

 

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Hello, I am Dharmendra Yadav and I am a Python Developer with experience in web development using Django, Flask, REST API, SQL, MySQL, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, WordPress, Oracle Cloud, AWS and Git. I also write technical articles where I explain web development and Software Engineering. Facebook , Linkedin

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