The ternary operator in PHP is a shorthand for the if-else statement. It is useful for writing concise and readable conditional expressions.

Syntax:

condition ? true_value : false_value;

• condition → An expression that evaluates to true or false.
• true_value → The value returned if the condition is true.
• false_value → The value returned if the condition is false.

Example 1: Basic Usage

$age = 20;
$message = ($age >= 18) ? "You are an adult" : "You are a minor";
echo $message;

Output:

You are an adult

• If $age is 18 or more, it prints “You are an adult”.
• Otherwise, it prints “You are a minor”.

Example 2: Nested Ternary Operator

You can also nest ternary operators, but it may reduce readability.

$score = 85;
$result = ($score >= 90) ? "Excellent" :
          (($score >= 70) ? "Good" : "Needs Improvement");

echo $result;

Output:

Good

• If $score >= 90, it prints “Excellent”.
• If $score is between 70 and 89, it prints “Good”.
• Otherwise, it prints “Needs Improvement”.

Example 3: Using with isset()

$name = isset($_GET['name']) ? $_GET['name'] : 'Guest';
echo "Welcome, " . $name;

If name is passed in the URL (?name=John), it prints:

Welcome, John

If name is not set, it prints:

Welcome, Guest

Example 4: Shortened Null Coalescing Alternative (??)

From PHP 7+, you can use the null coalescing operator (??), which is often better than the ternary operator for checking if a variable is set:

$name = $_GET['name'] ?? 'Guest';
echo "Welcome, " . $name;

This is equivalent to:

$name = isset($_GET['name']) ? $_GET['name'] : 'Guest';

Key Points to Remember

1. Shorthand for if-else → Makes code more concise.
2. Readability Matters → Avoid nesting too many ternary operators.
3. Use ?? for null checks → If checking for isset(), prefer the null coalescing operator (??) from PHP 7+.