PHP Ternary Operator

The ternary operator is a short way to write a simple if...else statement in one line. It is called ternary because it works with three parts: a condition, a result for true and a result for false.

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Syntax

$result = (condition) ? value_if_true : value_if_false;

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Example

The same logic written with if-else, and with the ternary operator:

<?php
$age = 20;

// Using if...else
if ($age >= 18) {
    $status = "Adult";
} else {
    $status = "Minor";
}

// Using the ternary operator
$status2 = ($age >= 18) ? "Adult" : "Minor";

echo $status . "<br>";
echo $status2;
?>

Output:

You can use it directly inside echo also.

<?php
$loggedIn = true;

echo $loggedIn ? "Welcome back!" : "Please login.";
?>

Output:

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Short ternary (?:)

If you leave the middle part, PHP uses the condition value itself when it is true. It is a nice way to set a default for empty values.

<?php
$username = "";

echo $username ?: "Guest";
?>

Output:

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Null coalescing operator (??)

The ?? operator returns the left value if it exists and is not NULL. It does not give a warning for undefined variables or array keys.

<?php
$user = ["name" => "Robin"];

echo $user["city"] ?? "Not given";
?>

Output:

The difference between ?: and ?? is: ?: checks if a value is false-like (0, empty string), and ?? checks only if the value is not set or NULL. Learn more in the ?? operator.

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Nested ternary

You can put one ternary inside another, but it is hard to read. Since PHP 8, a nested ternary without brackets gives an error, so you must use brackets.

<?php
$marks = 82;

echo $marks >= 90 ? "A" : ($marks >= 75 ? "B" : "C");
?>

Output:

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