Operators in php

Jun 20, 2026Trushi Jasani

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Operators are used to perform operations on variables and values. php divides operators into several groups.

Arithmetic Operators

Used to perform common mathematical operations:

Operator	Name	Example	Result
+	Addition	$x + $y	Sum
-	Subtraction	$x - $y	Difference
*	Multiplication	$x * $y	Product
/	Division	$x / $y	Quotient
%	Modulus	$x % $y	Remainder
**	Exponentiation	$x ** $y	Power

<?php
$x = 10;
$y = 3;

echo $x + $y;   // 13
echo $x - $y;   // 7
echo $x * $y;   // 30
echo $x / $y;   // 3.333...
echo $x % $y;   // 1
echo $x ** $y;  // 1000
?>

---

Assignment Operators

Used to write values to variables:

<?php
$x = 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
?>

---

Comparison Operators

Used to compare two values:

Operator	Name	Example
==	Equal	$x == $y
===	Identical	$x === $y
!=	Not equal	$x != $y
!==	Not identical	$x !== $y
>	Greater than	$x > $y
<	Less than	$x < $y
>=	Greater than or equal	$x >= $y
<=	Less than or equal	$x <= $y
<=>	Spaceship	$x <=> $y

<?php
$x = 10;
$y = "10";

var_dump($x == $y);   // bool(true)  - same value
var_dump($x === $y);  // bool(false) - different types
var_dump($x <=> 15);  // int(-1) — less than
?>

---

Increment / Decrement Operators

<?php
$x = 5;
echo ++$x; // Pre-increment: 6
echo $x++; // Post-increment: 6 (then $x becomes 7)
echo --$x; // Pre-decrement: 6
echo $x--; // Post-decrement: 6 (then $x becomes 5)
?>

---

Logical Operators

Operator	Name	Example
&&	And	$x && $y
||	Or	$x || $y
!	Not	!$x
and	And (low precedence)	$x and $y
or	Or (low precedence)	$x or $y

<?php
$age = 20;
$hasID = true;

if ($age >= 18 && $hasID) {
    echo "Access granted";
}
?>

---

String Operators

<?php
$first = "Hello";
$last = "World";

echo $first . " " . $last;  // Concatenation: Hello World

$str = "Hello";
$str .= " World";            // Concatenation assignment
echo $str;                   // Hello World
?>

---

Array Operators

Operator	Name	Description
+	Union	Combines arrays
==	Equality	Same key/value pairs
===	Identity	Same key/value pairs, order, and types
!=	Inequality	Not equal

<?php
$a = ["a" => 1, "b" => 2];
$b = ["b" => 3, "c" => 4];

$c = $a + $b;
print_r($c); // ["a" => 1, "b" => 2, "c" => 4]
?>

---

Ternary Operator

A shorthand for if...else:

<?php
$age = 20;
$status = ($age >= 18) ? "Adult" : "Minor";
echo $status; // Adult
?>

Null Coalescing Operator (??)

Returns the first operand if it exists and is not null, otherwise returns the second operand:

<?php
$username = $_GET['user'] ?? "Guest";
echo $username; // Guest if 'user' is not set
?>