Conditional statements in PHP – if, else, elseif, switch, and match

Conditional statements allow you to make decisions in a program depending on whether conditions are met. Thanks to them, the application becomes dynamic and responsive to input data. In this chapter, you will learn if, else, elseif, switch, and the modern match operator.

If statement

<?php
$age = 18;

if ($age >= 18) {
    echo "You are an adult.";
}

If – else

<?php
$loggedIn = false;

if ($loggedIn) {
    echo "Welcome back!";
} else {
    echo "Please log in to continue.";
}

If – elseif – else

<?php
$score = 75;

if ($score >= 90) {
    echo "Grade: A";
} elseif ($score >= 75) {
    echo "Grade: B";
} elseif ($score >= 50) {
    echo "Grade: C";
} else {
    echo "Grade: F";
}

Switch statement

The switch statement is useful when there are multiple possible cases to handle.

<?php
$day = "Monday";

switch ($day) {
    case "Monday":
        echo "Start of the week";
        break;
    case "Friday":
        echo "Almost the weekend";
        break;
    case "Saturday":
    case "Sunday":
        echo "Weekend!";
        break;
    default:
        echo "Weekday";
}

The modern match (PHP 8+)

Since PHP 8, the match operator has been available. It works similarly to switch but is more concise and returns a value.

<?php
$day = "Monday";

$message = match($day) {
    "Monday" => "Start of the week",
    "Friday" => "Almost the weekend",
    "Saturday", "Sunday" => "Weekend!",
    default => "Weekday"
};

echo $message;

Best practices

1. Use === instead of == to avoid unexpected type conversions.
2. For multiple conditions, prefer match – it is clearer and safer.
3. Remember to use break in switch to avoid accidental “fall-through” between cases.