Page 1 of 1

Ternary Operator in PHP: What it is and Examples

Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2025 4:42 am
by shukla7789
Home » Ternary Operator in PHP: What it is and Examples


The ternary operator in PHP is a powerful tool that allows you to write conditional expressions in a concise and efficient manner. It is also known as the conditional operator and follows the syntax condición ? expresión_verdadera : expresión_falsa. This operator provides a compact way to write simple conditional structures on a single line.

Table of contents

Ternary Operator Syntax.
Usage Examples.
Advantages of the Ternary Operator.
Ternary Operator Syntax.
The basic syntax of the ternary operator in PHP is as follows:

$variable = (condition) ? true_expression : false_expression;
Here, the condiciónis evaluated first. If the condition is true, the value of is assigned expresión_verdaderato the variable; otherwise, the value of is assigned expresión_falsa.

// Output: The number 8 is Even.
In this example, the condition $numero % 2 == 0checks if viber database is divisible by 2. If it is true, the variable is assigned the value 'Even' $paridad; otherwise, it is assigned 'Odd'.

Example 2: Determine if a Person is of Legal Age.
$edad = 20;
$resultado = ($edad >= 18) ? 'Of Legal Age' : 'Minor';

echo «The person is $age years old and is $result.»;
​​// Output: The person is 20 years old and is of legal age.

In this case, the condition $edad >= 18checks whether the person is greater than or equal to 18 years old. If the condition is true, 'Of Age' is assigned to the variable $resultado; otherwise, 'Minor' is assigned.

Advantages of the Ternary Operator.
Code Conciseness: The ternary operator allows you to express conditionals more concisely compared to the structure if-else.
Readability: In some simple cases, using the ternary operator can improve code readability by presenting conditional logic more compactly.
Efficiency: By avoiding the need to write additional blocks of code, the ternary operator can be more efficient in terms of lines of code.
In short, the ternary operator in PHP is a useful tool for simplifying conditional expressions in situations where conciseness and clarity in code is desired. However, it is crucial to use it sparingly to maintain code readability.