PHP Operators: Classification With Examples

PHP Operators are the special symbols or strings for operations on PHP variables & values. Discover the different categories of PHP Operators with simple programming code examples:

In this tutorial, you will learn about PHP operators (like PHP assignment operators, PHP comparison operators, PHP ternary operators, and many more), the precedence of operators, and frequently asked questions (FAQs).

Please note that we have used PHP version 7 in all examples.

Let’s begin!

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Understanding PHP Operators

What is an Operator

In simple words, an operator is a symbol that is used to operate on operands. When you consider the example, 5 + 10, 5 & 10 are the operands, and + is the operator.

Classification of PHP Operators

There are 11 categories of operators in PHP. They are:

1. Arithmetic
2. Assignment
3. Comparison
4. Incrementing and decrementing
5. Bitwise
6. Logical
7. String
8. Array
9. Type
10. Execution
11. Error Control

Apart from the above classification, we can also classify operators based on operands as shown in the list below:

• PHP Unary Operators – It works on a single operand. Example: ++, —
• PHP Binary Operators – It works on two operands. Example: +, –
• PHP Ternary Operators – It works on three operands. Example: ?:

#1) Arithmetic Operator

An arithmetic operator is used to perform common arithmetic operations like addition, multiplication, etc.

The table below shows more details:

Example:

The below programming code shows an example. You can try this example by running the following code:

<?php
$c = 2;  
$d = 4;

echo $c + $d."<br>"; //outputs: 6
echo $c - $d."<br>"; //outputs: -2
echo $c * $d."<br>";  //outputs: 8
echo $c / $d."<br>";  //outputs: 0.5
echo $c % $d."<br>";  //outputs: 2
echo $c ** $d."<br>";  //outputs: 16
echo +$c."<br>"; //outputs: 2
echo -$c;  //outputs: -2 
?>

#2) Assignment Operator

Assignment operators are used to assign values to variables. The most fundamental assignment operator is “=”.

The table below shows more details:

Example:

The below programming code shows an example. You can try this example by running the following code. Output values are shown in the comments.

<?php
$c = 2;  
$d = 4;
echo ($c = $d)."<br>"; //outputs: 4

$c = 2;  
$d = 4;
echo ($c += $d)."<br>"; //outputs: 6

$c = 2;  
$d = 4;
echo ($c -= $d)."<br>"; //outputs: -2

$c = 2;  
$d = 4;
echo ($c *= $d)."<br>"; //outputs: 8

$c = 2;  
$d = 4;
echo ($c /= $d)."<br>"; //outputs: 0.5

$c = 2;  
$d = 4;
echo ($c %= $d)."<br>"; //outputs: 2

$c = 2;  
$d = 4;
echo ($c **= $d)."<br>"; //outputs: 16

$c = 2;  
$d = 4;
echo ($c &= $d)."<br>"; //outputs: 0

$c = 2;  
$d = 4;
echo ($c |= $d)."<br>"; //outputs: 6

$c = 2;  
$d = 4;
echo ($c ^= $d)."<br>"; //outputs: 6

$c = 2;  
$d = 4;
echo ($c <<= $d)."<br>"; //outputs: 32

$c = 2;  
$d = 4;
echo ($c >>= $d)."<br>"; //outputs: 0

$c = 2;  
$d = 4;
echo ($c .= $d)."<br>"; //outputs: 24

$c = 2;  
$d = 4;
echo ($c ??= $d); //outputs: 2
?>

#3) Comparison Operator

Comparison operators are used to compare values.

The table below shows more details:

Note: The following two operators are also referred to as PHP comparison operators.

• The ternary operator (?:)
• The null coalescing operator (??)

Example:

The below programming code shows an example. You can try this example by running the following code. Output values are shown in the comments.

In the below example, 50 is an integer, and “50” is a string.

<?php
$c = 50; 
$d = "50"; 

var_dump($c == $d); //outputs: bool(true) 
echo "<br>";

var_dump($c === $d); //outputs: bool(false) 
echo "<br>";

var_dump($c != $d); //outputs: bool(false) 
echo "<br>";

var_dump($c !== $d); //outputs: bool(true) 
echo "<br>";

var_dump($c <> $d); //outputs: bool(false) 
echo "<br>";

var_dump($c < $d); //outputs: bool(false) 
echo "<br>";

var_dump($c > $d); //outputs: bool(false) 
echo "<br>";

var_dump($c <= $d); //outputs: bool(true) 
echo "<br>";

var_dump($c >= $d);//outputs: bool(true) 
echo "<br>";

var_dump($c <=>$d); //outputs: int(0) 
?>  

#4) Incrementing and Decrementing Operators

Incrementing and decrementing operators are used to increase and decrease the value of a variable.

The table below shows more details:

Example:

The below programming code is an example. Output values are shown in the comments.

<?php
$c = 50; 
echo ++$c."<br>"; //outputs: 51

$c = 50; 
echo $c++."<br>"; //outputs: 50

$c = 50; 
echo --$c."<br>"; //outputs: 49

$c = 50; 
echo $c--; //outputs: 50
?>

#5) Bitwise Operator

A bitwise operator is used to perform bit-level operations.

The table below shows more details:

Example:

The below programming code shows an example. You can try this example by running the following code. Output values are shown in the comments.

<?php
$c = 2; 
$d = 4;

echo($c & $d)."<br>"; //outputs: 0 

echo($c | $d)."<br>"; //outputs: 6

echo($c ^ $d)."<br>"; //outputs: 6

echo(~$c)."<br>"; //outputs: -3

echo($c << $d)."<br>"; //outputs: 32

echo($c >> $d); //outputs: 0
?>

#6) Logical Operator

A logical operator is used to integrate conditional statements.

The table below shows more details:

Example:

The below programming code shows an example. Output values are shown in the comments.

<?php
$c = true; 
$d = false;

var_dump($c and $d); //outputs: bool(false) 
echo "<br>";

var_dump($c or $d); //outputs: bool(true) 
echo "<br>";

var_dump($c xor $d); //outputs: bool(true) 
echo "<br>";

var_dump(!$c); //outputs: bool(false) 
echo "<br>";

var_dump($c && $d); //outputs: bool(false) 
echo "<br>";

var_dump($c || $d); //outputs: bool(true) 
?>

#7) String Operator

A string operator is used to perform operations on strings.

The table below shows more details:

Example:

The below programming code shows an example. You can try this example by running the following code. Output values are shown in the comments.

$c = "My";
$d = " Home";

echo $c . $d ."<br>"; //outputs: My Home

echo $c .= $d; //outputs: My Home

#8) Array Operator

They are used to performing operations on arrays. They are usually comparing the values of arrays.

The table below shows more details:

Example:

The below programming code shows an example. Output values are shown in the comments.

<?php
$c = array("a" => "Red", "b" => "Yellow", "c" => "Green");
$d = array("d" => "Pink", "e" => "Orange", "f" => "Blue");

var_dump($c + $d);
echo "<br>"; //outputs: array(6) { ["a"]=> string(3) "Red" ["b"]=> string(6) "Yellow" ["c"]=> string(5) "Green" ["d"]=> string(4) "Pink" ["e"]=> string(6) "Orange" ["f"]=> string(4) "Blue" } 

var_dump($c == $d); //outputs: bool(false) 
echo "<br>";

var_dump($c === $d); //outputs: bool(false) 
echo "<br>";

var_dump($c != $d);  //outputs: bool(true)
echo "<br>";

var_dump($c <> $d); //outputs: bool(true)
echo "<br>";

var_dump($c !== $d);  //outputs: bool(true)
?>

#9) Type Operator

PHP has a type operator called instanceof, and its function is to determine which class an object belongs to. It is used in object-oriented programming.

Example:

The below programming code shows an example. You can try this example by running the following code. Output values are shown in the comments.

	<?php
    class AnimalClass
	{
	}

	class NotAnimalClass
	{
	}
	$a = new AnimalClass;

	var_dump($a instanceof AnimalClass); //outputs: bool(true) 
	var_dump($a instanceof NotAnimalClass); //outputs: bool(false) 
    ?>

#10) Execution Operator

PHP has only one execution operator, backticks (“). PHP executes the content inside the backticks as a shell command. It is similar to the shell_exec() function, and both give the same result.

Note: Backticks (“) are not single quotes.

Example:

The below programming code shows an example. You can try this example by running the following code:

<?php	
    $list=`dir`;
	echo "$list";
?>

It will show available directories in the current directory as the output.

#11) Error Control Operator

PHP has only one error control operator, the at symbol (@). When you prefix it to any expression, any error message encountered by the expression will be ignored.

Example:

The following example elaborates on the functionality of the error control operator. You can try this example by running the following code. Assume that the file, missingfile.txt does not exist.

• Code A – Without @

 <?php
    echo "My File";
	$fp=fopen("missingfile.txt","r");
?>

The following text shows the browser output of the above programming code. As there is no @, the error will be displayed.

My File
Warning: fopen(missingfile.txt): Failed to open stream: No such file or directory in C:\xampp\htdocs\test.php on line 3

• Code B – With @

<?php	
    echo "My File";
	$fp=@fopen("missingfile.txt","r");
?>

The text below shows the browser output of the above programming code. As there is @ before fopen, the error will not be displayed.

My File

Precedence of Operators

The operator precedence determines the order in which operators are going to executed.

The following table shows the operators in order of precedence from the highest precedence (at the top) to the lowest precedence (at the bottom). Furthermore, the operators on the same line have equal precedence.

Frequently Asked Questions

In this section, we will discuss some of the FAQs related to this topic. These questions will help you prepare for your examinations and interviews confidently.

Conclusion

PHP operators can be divided into 11 categories named arithmetic, assignment, comparison, incrementing/decrementing, bitwise, logical, string, array, type, execution, and error control operators.

The operator precedence determines the order in which operators are going to executed.

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