➕ PHP Operators – Master Arithmetic, Logic, and Advanced Operations

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🧲 Introduction – Why Learn PHP Operators?

Operators in PHP are essential for performing calculations, comparisons, assignments, logic checks, and more. Whether you’re building a calculator, validating conditions, or merging arrays, operators are the building blocks of dynamic logic.

🎯 In this guide, you’ll learn how to:

• Use arithmetic, logical, and comparison operators
• Work with strings, arrays, and ternary conditions
• Master PHP-specific operators like null coalescing and spaceship

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📘 Topics Covered

🔖 Topic	📄 Description
➕ PHP Arithmetic Operators	Perform basic math operations
⚖️ PHP Comparison Operators	Compare values with equality/inequality
🔗 PHP Logical Operators	Combine multiple conditions using logic
📥 PHP Assignment Operators	Assign and update variable values
🧵 PHP String Operators	Concatenate strings using . and .=
🧩 PHP Array Operators	Compare and merge arrays
❔ PHP Ternary Operator	Shortcut for if-else logic
📤 PHP Spread Operator	Unpack arrays in newer PHP versions
❓ PHP Null Coalescing Operator	Return first non-null value using ??
🚀 PHP Spaceship Operator	Three-way comparison for sorting
➗ PHP Integer Division	Perform integer-only division using intdiv()

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➕ PHP Arithmetic Operators

Operator	Description	Example	Result
+	Addition	5 + 3	8
-	Subtraction	5 - 3	2
*	Multiplication	5 * 3	15
/	Division	5 / 2	2.5
%	Modulus	5 % 2	1
**	Exponentiation	2 ** 3	8

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⚖️ PHP Comparison Operators

Operator	Description	Example	Result
==	Equal	5 == "5"	true
===	Identical	5 === "5"	false
!= or <>	Not equal	5 != 3	true
!==	Not identical	5 !== "5"	true
>	Greater than	5 > 3	true
<	Less than	5 < 3	false
>=	Greater than or equal to	5 >= 5	true
<=	Less than or equal to	3 <= 5	true

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🔗 PHP Logical Operators

Operator	Description	Example
and / &&	Logical AND	$a && $b
or / `		`
!	NOT	!$a
xor	XOR	$a xor $b

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📥 PHP Assignment Operators

Operator	Description	Example
=	Assign	$x = 10
+=	Add and assign	$x += 5
-=	Subtract and assign	$x -= 5
*=	Multiply and assign	$x *= 2
/=	Divide and assign	$x /= 2
%=	Modulo and assign	$x %= 2

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🧵 PHP String Operators

$a = "Hello ";
$b = "World";
echo $a . $b; // Hello World

$a .= $b;
echo $a; // Hello World

✅ Use . for concatenation and .= to append strings.

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🧩 PHP Array Operators

Operator	Description	Example
+	Union of arrays	$a + $b
==	Equal arrays	$a == $b
===	Identical arrays	$a === $b
!=, <>	Not equal	$a != $b
!==	Not identical	$a !== $b

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❔ PHP Conditional (Ternary) Operator

$result = ($age >= 18) ? "Adult" : "Minor";

✅ Shorthand for if...else statements.

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📤 PHP Spread Operator (PHP 7.4+)

$fruits = ['apple', ...['banana', 'orange']];

✅ Expands arrays into argument lists or merges arrays cleanly.

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❓ PHP Null Coalescing Operator

$username = $_GET['user'] ?? 'Guest';

✅ Returns the first defined value (non-null).

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🚀 PHP Spaceship Operator

echo 5 <=> 10; // -1
echo 10 <=> 10; // 0
echo 15 <=> 10; // 1

✅ Returns -1, 0, or 1 for sorting purposes.

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➗ PHP Integer Division

echo intdiv(10, 3); // 3

✅ Use intdiv() for clean integer-only division.

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📘 Best Practices for Using PHP Operators

✅ Do This	🚫 Avoid This
Use === for type-safe comparison	Don’t use == for critical conditions
Prefer ternary for short decisions	Avoid nested ternary chains
Use ?? for default values	Don’t suppress errors with @
Understand truthy/falsy values	Don’t mix data types unknowingly
Use intdiv() when needed	Don’t rely on / for integer-only division

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📌 Summary – Recap & Next Steps

Operators are the core logic tools in PHP, enabling developers to build expressions, perform calculations, make decisions, and manipulate strings/arrays.

🔍 Key Takeaways:

• Arithmetic, comparison, and logical operators are foundational
• Use modern PHP operators like ??, <=>, and intdiv()
• Understand the difference between == and ===
• Combine operators with good syntax practices

⚙️ Real-World Relevance:
Used in conditional logic, form handling, APIs, backend processing, data manipulation, and more.

➡️ Next Up: Dive into 🧰 PHP Control Structures – if, switch, loops, and flow logic.

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❓ FAQs – PHP Operators

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❓ What is the difference between == and === in PHP?
✅ == checks for value equality, === checks for both value and data type.

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❓ When should I use the null coalescing operator ???
✅ Use ?? to provide fallback/default values when a variable might be undefined or null.

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❓ What does the spaceship operator <=> do?
✅ It performs a three-way comparison and is commonly used in sorting functions.

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❓ How does PHP handle type juggling with operators?
✅ PHP automatically converts types in expressions—this is known as type juggling. Use strict typing (===) to avoid unexpected behavior.

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❓ Can I spread an associative array using ...?
✅ No. The spread operator works with indexed arrays only.

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