JavaScript "or"-functionality in PHP

Question

I have the following Code in PHP

if($row["phone"])
  $phone = $row["phone"];
else
  $phone = $row["mobile"];

In JavaScript I could simply write

phone = row.phone || row.mobile;

which is much easier to write, and looks much better. If I try the same in PHP it would simply return true

$phone = $row["phone"] || $row["mobile"];
echo $phone;     // 1

Is there any operator in PHP that offers me the same functionality as the in JavaScript? I tried the bitwise or |, but that only works sometimes and sometimes i get really weird results.

score 2 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:07

2

have a look at this answer. You can use the elvis operator like this:

$phone = $row['phone'] ?: $row['mobile'];

This would be shorter than

$phone = $row['phone'] ? $row['phone'] : $row['mobile'];

edited May 23 '17 at 12:07

Community

1
1

answered Dec 22 '15 at 11:47

muued

1,666
13
25

Ok now this is EXACTLY, what i was looking for. Short and sweet – chillichief Dec 22 '15 at 11:52

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 22 '15 at 11:10

1

In PHP, the logical operators always return a boolean value, so you have to do the job as you've done in your question. You can also write using a ternary operator:

$phone = $row['phone'] ? $row['phone'] : $row['mobile'];

answered Dec 22 '15 at 11:10

Denis Frezzato

957
6
15

this `?` seems to be the one im looking for. can you give a short explanation on how exactly this works? – chillichief Dec 22 '15 at 11:16
@chillichief that's ternary operator. google about it. – Bhojendra Rauniyar Dec 22 '15 at 11:17
ok i got it. it is literally just a shorhand version of the code i wrote. THX – chillichief Dec 22 '15 at 11:19
1

It is basically shorthand for if--else. @chillichief – Jitendra Khatri Dec 22 '15 at 11:21

JavaScript "or"-functionality in PHP

2 Answers2