Operators
PHP Manual

Array Operators

Array Operators
Example Name Result
$a + $b Union Union of $a and $b.
$a == $b Equality TRUE if $a and $b have the same key/value pairs.
$a === $b Identity TRUE if $a and $b have the same key/value pairs in the same order and of the same types.
$a != $b Inequality TRUE if $a is not equal to $b.
$a <> $b Inequality TRUE if $a is not equal to $b.
$a !== $b Non-identity TRUE if $a is not identical to $b.

The + operator appends elements of remaining keys from the right handed array to the left handed, whereas duplicated keys are NOT overwritten.

<?php
$a 
= array("a" => "apple""b" => "banana");
$b = array("a" => "pear""b" => "strawberry""c" => "cherry");

$c $a $b// Union of $a and $b
echo "Union of \$a and \$b: \n";
var_dump($c);

$c $b $a// Union of $b and $a
echo "Union of \$b and \$a: \n";
var_dump($c);
?>
When executed, this script will print the following:
Union of $a and $b: array(3) { ["a"]=> string(5) "apple" ["b"]=> string(6) "banana" ["c"]=> string(6) "cherry" } Union of $b and $a: array(3) { ["a"]=> string(4) "pear" ["b"]=> string(10) "strawberry" ["c"]=> string(6) "cherry" }

Elements of arrays are equal for the comparison if they have the same key and value.

Example#1 Comparing arrays

<?php
$a 
= array("apple""banana");
$b = array(=> "banana""0" => "apple");

var_dump($a == $b); // bool(true)
var_dump($a === $b); // bool(false)
?>

See also the manual sections on the Array type and Array functions.


Operators
PHP Manual