Operators are used to perform operations on PHP variables and simple values.
In PHP there are total 7 types of operators, they are:
There are a few additional operators as well like, Type operator, Bitwise operator, Execution operators etc.
Based on how these operators are used, they are categorised into 3 categories:
These operators are used to perform basic arithmetic operations like addition, multiplication, division, etc.
Name | Operator | What does it do? | Example |
---|---|---|---|
Addition | + | It is used to perform normal addition. | $a + $b |
Subtraction | - | It is used to perform normal subtraction. | $a - $b |
Multiplication | * | It is used to perform multiplication. | $a * $b |
Division | / | It is used to perform division. | $a / $b |
Exponent | ** | It returns the first operand raised to the power the second operand. $a ** $b = $a$b | $a ** $b |
Modulus(or, Remainder) | % | It returns the remainder of first operand divided by the second operand | $a % $b |
Assignment operators are used to assign values to variables, either as it is or after performing some arithmetic operation on it. The most basic assignment operator is equal to=
.
Operator | Usage |
---|---|
= | $a = $b , will save the value of variable $b to the variable $a |
+- | $a += $b is same as $a + $b |
-= | $a -= $b is same as $a - $b |
*= | $a *= $b is same as $a * $b |
/= | $a /= $b is same as $a / $b |
%= | $a %= $b is same as $a % $b |
So basically, the assignment operator provides us with shorthand techniques to perform arithmetic operations.
As the name suggest, these are used to compare two values.
Name | Operator | What does it do? | Example |
---|---|---|---|
Equal | == | It returns true if left operand is equal to the right operand. | $a == $b |
Identical | === | It returns true if left operand is equal to the right operand and they are of the same type. | $a === $b |
Not Equal | != | It returns true if left operand is not equal to the right operand. | $a != $b |
Not Identical | !== | It returns true if left operand is not equal to the right operand, and they are of different type as well. | $a !== $b |
Greater than | > | It returns true if left operand is greater than the right operand. | $a > $b |
Less than | < | It returns true if left operand is less than the right operand. | $a < $b |
Greater than or equal to | >= | It returns true if left operand is greater than or equal to the right operand. | $a >= $b |
Less than or equal to | <= | It returns true if left operand is less than or equal to the right operand. | $a <= $b |
These operators are unary operators, i.e they require only one operand.
Operator | Usage |
---|---|
++$a | Pre Increment, It will first increment the operand by 1 (add one to it) and then use it or return it. |
$a++ | Post Increment, It will first return the operand and then increment the operand by 1 . |
--$b | Pre Decrement, It will first decrement the operand by 1 (subtract one from it) and then use it or return it. |
$b-- | Post Decrement, It will first return the operand and then decrement the operand by 1 . |
These operators are very useful and handy when use loops or when we have simply increment any value by one in our program/script.
Logical operators are generally used when any action depends on two or more conditions.
Name | Operator | What does it do? | Example |
---|---|---|---|
And | and or && | It returns true if both the operands(or expressions) returns true. | $a && $b |
Or | or or || | It returns true if any one out of the two operands(or expressions) returns true, or both return true. | $a || $b |
Xor | xor | It returns true if any one out of the two operands(or expressions) returns true, but not when both return true. | $a xor $b |
Not | ! | This is a unary operator. It returns true, if the operand(or expression) returns false. | !$a |
String operators are used to perform operations on string. There are only two string operators, generally PHP built-in functions are used to perform various operations on strings, we will learn about them in coming tutorials.
Name | Operator | What does it do? | Example |
---|---|---|---|
Concatenation | . (a dot) | It is used to concatenate(join together) two strings. | $a.$b |
Concatenation Assignment | .= | It is used to append one string to another. | $a .= $b |
Here we have a simple example to demonstrate the usage of both the string operators.
<?php
$a = "study";
$b = "tonight";
// concatenating $a and $b
echo $a.$b;
// appending $b to $a
$a .= $b
echo $a;
?>
studytonight studytonight
These operators are used to compare arrays.
Name | Operator | What does it do? | Example |
---|---|---|---|
Equal | == | It returns true if both the arrays have same key/value pairs. | $a == $b |
Identical | === | It returns true if both the arrays have same key/value pairs, in same order and of same type. | $a === $b |
Not Equal | != | It returns true if both the arrays are not same. | $a != $b |
Not Identical | !== | It returns true if both the arrays are not identical, based on type of value etc. | $a !== $b |
Union(Join) | + | It joins the arrays together | $a + $b |