PHP Ternary & Null Coalescing Operators

These operators provide elegant shortcuts for conditional assignments. The ternary operator replaces simple if-else statements, while null coalescing handles default values beautifully!

Operators Overview

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Ternary Operator (?:)

Shorthand for simple if-else statements:

<?php
// Long form
if ($age >= 18) {
    $status = "Adult";
} else {
    $status = "Minor";
}

// Ternary form
$status = ($age >= 18) ? "Adult" : "Minor";

// Another example
$discount = ($isMember) ? 10 : 0;
?>

Null Coalescing Operator (??) - PHP 7+

Returns first value if it exists and is not null, otherwise returns second:

<?php
// Old way
$username = isset($_GET['user']) ? $_GET['user'] : 'Guest';

// Null coalescing way
$username = $_GET['user'] ?? 'Guest';

// Chain multiple
$name = $firstName ?? $lastName ?? $defaultName ?? 'Anonymous';
?>

Null Coalescing Assignment (??=) - PHP 7.4+

<?php
// Assign only if null or doesn't exist
$count ??= 0;  // Same as: $count = $count ?? 0

// Useful for default values
$config['timeout'] ??= 30;
$config['retries'] ??= 3;
?>

Summary

What's Next?

Finally, we'll explore Array Operators - special operators for combining and comparing arrays!