Operators are used to perform operations on variables and values.
PHP divides the operators in the following groups:
- Arithmetic operators
- Assignment operators
- Comparison operators
- Increment/Decrement operators
- Logical operators
- String operators
- Array operators
Arithmetic operators
| Operator | Name | Example |
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| + | Addition | 2 + 4 |
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| – | Subtraction | 6 – 2 |
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| * | Multiplication | 5 * 3 |
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| / | Division | 15 / 3 |
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| % | Modulus | 43 % 10 |
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| ** | Exponentiation | 10**3 = 1000 |
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NOTE: The exponentiation (**) operator has been introduced in PHP 5.6.
Assignment operators
The assignment operators are used to assign value to different variables. The basic assignment operator is “=”.
| Operator | Name | Example | Equivalent Operation |
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| += | Plus Equals | $x += 2; | $x = $x + 2; |
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| -= | Minus Equals | $x -= 4; | $x = $x – 4; |
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| *= | Multiply Equals | $x *= 3; | $x = $x * 3; |
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| /= | Divide Equals | $x /= 2; | $x = $x / 2; |
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| %= | Modulo Equals | $x %= 5; | $x = $x % 5; |
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| .= | Concatenate Equals | $my_str.=”hello”; | $my_str = $my_str . “hello”; |
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Comparison operators
Comparisons are used to check the relationship between variables and/or values.
| Operator | Name | Example | Result |
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| == | Equal To | $x == $y | false |
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| != | Not Equal To | $x != $y | true |
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| < | Less Than | $x < $y | true |
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| > | Greater Than | $x > $y | false |
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| <= | Less Than or Equal To | $x <= $y | true |
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| >= | Greater Than or Equal To | $x >= $y | false |
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Increment/Decrement operators
| Operator | Name | Example | Explanation |
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| ++ | Increment | ++$a | Increment the value of $a by one, then return $a |
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| $a++ | Return $a, then increment the value of $a by one |
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| — | decrement | –$a | Decrement the value of $a by one, then return $a |
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| $a– | Return $a, then decrement the value of $a by one |
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Logical Operators
| Operator | Name | Example | Explanation |
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| and | And | $a and $b | Return TRUE if both $a and $b are true |
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| Or | Or | $a or $b | Return TRUE if either $a or $b is true |
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| xor | Xor | $a xor $b | Return TRUE if either $ or $b is true but not both |
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| ! | Not | ! $a | Return TRUE if $a is not true |
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| && | And | $a && $b | Return TRUE if either $a and $b are true |
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| || | Or | $a || $b | Return TRUE if either $a or $b is true |
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String Operators
| Operator | Name | Example | Explanation |
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| . | Concatenation | $a . $b | Concatenate both $a and $b |
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| .= | Concatenation and Assignment | $a .= $b | First concatenate $a and $b, then assign the concatenated string to $a, e.g. $a = $a . $b |
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Array operators
| Operator | Name | Example | Explanation |
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| + | Union | $a + $y | Union of $a and $b |
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| == | Equality | $a == $b | Return TRUE if $a and $b have same key/value pair |
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| != | Inequality | $a != $b | Return TRUE if $a is not equal to $b |
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| === | Identity | $a === $b | Return TRUE if $a and $b have same key/value pair of same type in same order |
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| !== | Non-Identity | $a !== $b | Return TRUE if $a is not identical to $b |
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| <> | Inequality | $a <> $b | Return TRUE if $a is not equal to $b |
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