w3resource

PHP: Comparison Operators

Description

In PHP, comparison operators take simple values (numbers or strings) as arguments and evaluate to either TRUE or FALSE.

Here is a list of comparison operators.

Operator Name Example Result
= = Equal $x == $y TRUE if $x is exactly equal to $y
= = = Identical $x === $y TRUE if $x is exactly equal to $y, and they are of the same type.
!= Not equal $x != $y TRUE if $x is exactly not equal to $y.
<> Not equal $x <> $y TRUE if $x is exactly not equal to $y.
!== Not identical $x !== $y TRUE if $x is not equal to $y, or they are not of the same type. 
< Less than $x < $y TRUE if $x (left-hand argument) is strictly less than $y (right-hand argument).
> Greater than $x > $y TRUE if $x (left hand argument)  is strictly greater than $y (right hand argument).
<= Less than or equal to $x <= $y TRUE if $x (left hand argument) is less than or equal to $y (right hand argument).
>= Greater than or equal to $x >= $y TRUE if $x is greater than or equal to $y.

Pictorial presentation of Equal (==) operator

php equal operator

 

Test Equal (==) operator

The following php codes return true though the type of $x and $y are not equal (the first one is integer type and the second one is character type) but their values are equal. 

<?php
$x = 300;
$y = "300";
var_dump($x == $y);
?>

Output : 

 bool(true)

View the example in the browser

Pictorial presentation of Strict equal (===) operator

php strict equal operator

 

Test Strict equal (===) operator

The following php codes returns false as the strict equal operator will compare both value and type of $x and $y.

<?php
$x = 300;
$y = "300";
var_dump($x === $y);
?>

Output :

bool(false)

View the example in the browser

Pictorial presentation of Not equal(!=)/(<>) operator

php not equal operator

 

Test Not equal (!=) / (<>) operator

The following php codes return false though the type of $x and $y are not equal (the first one is integer type and the second one is character type) but their values are equal. 

<?php
$x = 150;
$y = "150";
var_dump($x != $y);
?>

Output of the example

bool(false)

View the example in the browser

Test Not identical (!==) operator

The following php codes return true though their values are equal but the type of $x and $y are not equal (the first one is integer type and the second one is character type).

<?php
$x = 150;
$y = "150";
var_dump($x !== $y);
?>

Output :

bool(true)

View the example in the browser

Pictorial presentation of Greater than(>) operator

php greater than operator

 

Test Greater than(>) operator

The following php code return true as the value of $x is greater than $y. 

<?php
$x = 300;
$y = 100;
var_dump($x>$y);
?>

Output : 

bool(true)

View the example in the browser

Pictorial presentation of Greater than or equal (>=)

php greater than or equal operator

 

Test Greater than or equal (>=) operator

The following php codes return true as the value of $x is equal to $y. 

<?php
$x = 300;
$y = 100;
var_dump($x>=$y);
?>

Output :

bool(true)

View the example in the browser

Pictorial presentation of Less than (<) operator

php less than operator

 

Test Less than (<) operator

The following php codes return true as the value of $x is less than $y. 

<?php
$x = 100;
$y = 300;
var_dump($x<$y);
?>

Output :

bool(true)

View the example in the browser

Pictorial presentation of Less than or equal (<=) operator

php less than or equal operator

 

Test Less than or equal (<=) operator

The following PHP codes return false as the value of $x is greater than $y.

<?php
$x = 300;
$y = 100;
var_dump($x<=$y);
?>

Output :

bool(false)

View the example in the browser

See also

PHP variables

Previous: Arithmetic Operators
Next: Logical Operators



PHP: Tips of the Day

PHP: Remove first 4 characters of a string with PHP

You could use the substr function to return a substring starting from the 5th character: 

$str = "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."
$str2 = substr($str, 4); // "quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."

Ref : https://bit.ly/2LJDLQx