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PHP Intermediate FREE

Conditionals

Lesson 1 of 17 Intermediate Interactive

Conditional statements allow your PHP code to make decisions based on conditions. PHP supports several ways to control program flow.

if / elseif / else

The most common way to execute code based on a condition.

switch Statement

Used when comparing a single variable against many possible values.

match Expression (PHP 8+)

A newer, cleaner alternative to switch that uses strict comparison and returns a value.

Ternary Operator

A shorthand for simple if/else: $result = condition ? "yes" : "no";

Null Coalescing Operator (??)

Returns the left operand if it exists and is not null: $name = $name ?? "Guest";

Syntax

PHP

<?php
// if / elseif / else

if ($score >= 90) {
    echo "Grade: A";
} elseif ($score >= 80) {
    echo "Grade: B";
} else {
    echo "Grade: C";
}

// switch

switch ($day) {
    case "Monday":
        echo "Start of week";
        break;
    default:
        echo "Another day";
}

// match (PHP 8+)

$status = match($code) {
    200 => "OK",
    404 => "Not Found",
    500 => "Server Error",
    default => "Unknown",
};

// Ternary

echo $age >= 18 ? "Adult" : "Minor";

// Null coalescing

echo $name ?? "Guest";
?>

PHP Conditionals

PHP

<?php
$score = 85;

if ($score >= 90) {
    echo "Grade: A
";
} elseif ($score >= 80) {
    echo "Grade: B
";
} elseif ($score >= 70) {
    echo "Grade: C
";
} else {
    echo "Grade: F
";
}

// Match expression (PHP 8)
$result = match(true) {
    $score >= 90 => "Excellent",
    $score >= 70 => "Good",
    default => "Needs work",
};
echo "Result: $result
";
?>

Try It Yourself

Practice

Exercise

Write a conditional that checks if a user is logged in ($isLoggedIn) and displays different messages.

Answer

<?php
$isLoggedIn = true;
if ($isLoggedIn) {
    echo "Welcome back, Sukhwinder!";
} else {
    echo "Please log in to continue.";
}
?>

Exercise

Use the null coalescing operator to set a default value for a potentially undefined variable.

Answer

<?php
$color = null;
$theme = $color ?? "light";
echo "Theme: $theme"; // Theme: light
?>

Quick Quiz

What is the null coalescing operator in PHP?

The ?? operator returns the left operand if it exists and is not null, otherwise it returns the right operand.

How is match() different from switch?

No difference

match uses strict comparison and returns a value

switch is faster

match only works with strings

match uses strict (===) comparison, always returns a value, and does not need break statements.

What does the ternary operator do?

Compares three values

Shorthand for if/else

Creates arrays

Loops through data

The ternary operator condition ? "yes" : "no" is a shorthand for simple if/else statements.

Interview Questions

Use match() when working with PHP 8+ because it provides strict comparison (===), returns a value directly, doesn't need break statements, and is more concise. switch() still works but allows loose comparison and requires explicit break to avoid fall-through.

== performs loose comparison with type juggling (e.g., 0 == "hello" is true). === performs strict comparison checking both value and type (e.g., 0 === "hello" is false). Always prefer === to avoid unexpected type coercion bugs.

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