Curriculum

PHP Comparison Operators

In this tutorial, you will learn how to compare two values using PHP comparison operators.

A comparison operator compares two values and returns true if the comparison is correct and false if it is incorrect.

The comparison operators in PHP are illustrated in the table below:

Operator	Name	Description
==	Equal to	Return `true` if both operands are equal; otherwise, it returns `false`.
!=, <>	Not equal to	Return `true` if both operands are equal; otherwise, it returns `false`.
===	Identical to	Return `true` if both operands have the same data type and equal; otherwise, it returns `false`.
!==	Not identical to	Return `true` if both operands are not equal or not have the same data type; otherwise, it returns `false`.
>	Greater than	Return `true` if the operand on the left is greater than the operand on the right; otherwise, it returns `false`.
>=	Greater than or equal to	Return `true` if the operand on the left is greater than or equal to the operand on the right; otherwise, it returns `false`.
<	Less than	Return `true` if the operand on the left is less than the operand on the right; otherwise, it returns `false`.
<=	Less than or equal to	Return `true` if the operand on the left is less than or equal to the operand on the right; otherwise, it returns `false`.

Equality Operator (==)

If both values are equal, the equality function returns true; otherwise, it returns false. Because 10 equals 10, the following example returns true:

<?php

$x = 10;
$y = 10;
var_dump($x == $y); // bool(true)

Because 10 does not equal 20, the following example returns false:

<?php

$x = 20;
$y = 10;
var_dump($x == $y); // bool(false)

When the number 20 is compared to the string ’20,’ it also returns true.

<?php

$x = '20';
$y = 20;
var_dump($x == $y); // bool(true)

If you want to compare two values while taking type into account, you can use the identical operator (===).

Not equal to operator (!=, <>)

If the lefthand value is not equal to the righthand value, the not equal to (!=,>) operator returns true; otherwise, it returns false. As an example:

<?php

$x = 20;
$y = 10;

var_dump($x != $y); // bool(true)

Identical operator (===)

If both values are equal and of the same type, the identical operator returns true; otherwise, it returns false.

The identical operator is used to compare a string and a number in the following example. Because these values are of different types, it returns false:

<?php

$x = '20';
$y = 20;
var_dump($x === $y); // bool(false)

Not identical operator (!==)

If the values are not equal or are not of the same type, the not identical operator (!==) returns true; otherwise, it returns false. As an example:

<?php

$x = 20;
$y = 10;

var_dump($x != $y); // bool(true)

$x = 20;
$y = '20';
var_dump($x != $y); // bool(false)

Greater than (>)

If the lefthand value is greater than the righthand value, the greater than function returns true; otherwise, it returns false:

<?php

$x = 10;
$y = 20;

var_dump($x > $y); // bool(false)
var_dump($y > $x); // bool(true)

Greater than or equal to (>=)

If the lefthand value is greater than or equal to the righthand value, the greater than or equal to operator returns true; otherwise, it returns false. As an example:

<?php

$x = 20;
$y = 20;

var_dump($x >= $y); // bool(true)
var_dump($y >= $x); // bool(true)

Less than (<)

If the lefthand value is less than the righthand value, the less than operator returns true; otherwise, it returns false. As an example:

<?php

$x = 20;
$y = 10;

var_dump($x < $y); // bool(false)
var_dump($y < $x); // bool(true)

Less than or equal to (<=)

The less than or equal to operator returns true if the lefthand value is less than or equal to the righthand value; otherwise, it returns false. As an example:

<?php

$x = 20;
$y = 20;

var_dump($x <= $y); // bool(true)
var_dump($y <= $x); // bool(true)

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