PHP Tip #3: The Ternary Operator

by Paul Robinson on 03.14.2009 | 2 comments

This is probably one of my favorite PHP features. It can be a little complicated to get used to at first, but it really saves [...]

This is probably one of my favorite PHP features. It can be a little complicated to get used to at first, but it really saves a lot of time & can be extremely useful.

The Ternary operator is another way of writing if…else. Here is the normal way of writing it:

if( $a ) {
  echo $b;
} else {
  echo $c;
}

With the Ternary operator you would write this:

echo $a ? $b : $c;

You can also chain Ternary’s together, but be warned it can get extremely complicated & most sites I have visited warn against using them for that reason. In my opinion, give it a go & see what you think. If you can use them then it’s another way for you to code. Here’s what a chained Ternary statement looks like.

expression ? ( expression1 ? expression1a : expression1b ) : expression2

I’d give an example of a nested Ternary, but for the life of me I can’t think of a one.