PHP Operators

Operators are symbols that tell PHP to perform specific operations on values or variables. PHP supports a rich set of operators grouped by their purpose.

Arithmetic Operators

Used to perform basic math operations: + (addition), - (subtraction), * (multiplication), / (division), % (modulus), ** (exponentiation).

Arithmetic Operators

<?php
$a = 10;
$b = 3;

echo $a + $b;   // 13
echo $a - $b;   // 7
echo $a * $b;   // 30
echo $a / $b;   // 3.333...
echo $a % $b;   // 1  (remainder)
echo $a ** $b;  // 1000 (10 to the power of 3)
?>

Assignment Operators

Used to assign values to variables. Compound assignment operators combine an arithmetic operation with assignment.

Assignment Operators

<?php
$x = 10;   // assign 10
$x += 5;   // $x = $x + 5  → 15
$x -= 3;   // $x = $x - 3  → 12
$x *= 2;   // $x = $x * 2  → 24
$x /= 4;   // $x = $x / 4  → 6
$x %= 4;   // $x = $x % 4  → 2

$str = "Hello";
$str .= " World"; // string concatenation assignment → "Hello World"
echo $str;
?>

Comparison Operators

Used to compare two values. They return true or false. Note the difference between == (loose equality) and === (strict equality, checks type too).

Comparison Operators

<?php
$a = 5;
$b = "5";

var_dump($a == $b);   // true  (loose: values match)
var_dump($a === $b);  // false (strict: types differ)
var_dump($a != $b);   // false
var_dump($a !== $b);  // true
var_dump($a < 10);   // true
var_dump($a > 10);   // false
var_dump($a <= 5);   // true
var_dump($a >= 6);   // false

// Spaceship operator (PHP 7+): returns -1, 0, or 1
echo (1 <=> 2);  // -1
echo (2 <=> 2);  //  0
echo (3 <=> 2);  //  1
?>

Logical Operators

Used to combine conditional statements. && and and both mean AND, but && has higher precedence. Same for || vs or.

Logical Operators

<?php
$age = 25;
$hasID = true;

// AND: both must be true
if ($age >= 18 && $hasID) {
    echo "Access granted";
}

// OR: at least one must be true
$isAdmin = false;
$isModerator = true;
if ($isAdmin || $isModerator) {
    echo "Can manage content";
}

// NOT: inverts the boolean
if (!$isAdmin) {
    echo "Not an admin";
}

// XOR: true if exactly one operand is true
var_dump(true xor false); // true
var_dump(true xor true);  // false
?>

String & Increment/Decrement Operators

The . operator concatenates strings. ++ and -- increment or decrement a value by 1.

String & Increment/Decrement

<?php
// String concatenation
$first = "Hello";
$last  = "World";
echo $first . " " . $last; // Hello World

// Increment / Decrement
$count = 5;
echo $count++;  // 5 (post-increment: returns then increments)
echo $count;    // 6
echo ++$count;  // 7 (pre-increment: increments then returns)

$n = 10;
echo $n--;  // 10
echo --$n;  // 8
?>

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PHP Operators

Arithmetic Operators

Assignment Operators

Comparison Operators

Logical Operators

String & Increment/Decrement Operators

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