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PHP 7 Spaceship Operator: Use, Syntax, and Examples
By IncludeHelp Last updated : January 20, 2024
PHP 7 Spaceship Operator
The PHP spaceship operator is used to compare two expressions. It is a binary kind of operator that requires two operands (let's suppose $x and $y). It returns -1, 0, or 1 when $x is respectively less than, equal to, or greater than $y.
Note
The spaceship operator is added in PHP 7.
Representation of Spaceship Operator
The spaceship operator is represented by the combination of three symbols, less than (<), equal (=), and greater than (>). The representation of the spaceship operator is <=>.
Use of Spaceship Operator
The spaceship operator is used for expression comparisons.
Syntax
Below is the syntax of the spaceship operator
operand_1 <=> operand_2
Return Value
The returns value of the spaceship operator is an int, it returns:
- 0: If the values of both of the operands are equal.
- -1: If the value of operand_2 is greater than operand_1.
- 1: If the value of operand_1 is greater than operand_2.
Spaceship Operator Examples
Example 1: Comparing strings
<?php
echo ("abc" <=> "abc")."\n";
echo ("abc" <=> "aac")."\n";
echo ("abc" <=> "bca")."\n";
?>
The output of the above code is:
0
1
-1
Example 2: Comparing integers
<?php
echo (108 <=> 108)."\n";
echo (108 <=> 1008)."\n";
echo (108 <=> 51)."\n";
?>
The output of the above code is:
0
-1
1
Example 3: Comparing floats
<?php
echo (108.90 <=> 108.90)."\n";
echo (108.98 <=> 1008.898)."\n";
echo (108.89 <=> 51.12)."\n";
?>
The output of the above code is:
0
-1
1
Example 4: Comparing two arrays
<?php
$arr1 = array(10, 20, 30, 40, 50);
$arr2 = array(10, 20, 30, 40, 50);
$arr3 = array(20, 50, 30, 40, 40);
echo ($arr1 <=> $arr2)."\n";
echo ($arr1 <=> $arr3)."\n";
?>
The output of the above code is:
0
-1
To understand the above examples, you should have the basic knowledge of the following PHP topics: