Possible Duplicate: the code “ : ” in php I often see a lot

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Editorial Team

Asked: May 17, 20262026-05-17T22:06:21+00:00 2026-05-17T22:06:21+00:00

Possible Duplicate:
the code “ : ” in php

I often see a lot of php code using ? and :, but I don’t actually understand what it is for. Here an example:

$selected = ($key == $config['default_currency']) ? ' selected="selected"' : '';

Can someone clear me up, please? 🙂

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Editorial Team · Answer 1 · 2026-05-17T22:06:22+00:00

Editorial Team

(condition ? val1 : val2)

evaluates to val1 if condition is true, or val2 if condition is false.

Since PHP 5.3, you may also see an even more obscure form that leaves out val1:

(val0 ?: val2)

evaluates to val0 if val0 evaluates to a non-false value, or val2 otherwise. Yikes!

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