Control Structures

Control Structures

Conditionals and loops direct the flow of your scripts. PHP supports the familiar structures from other C-style languages plus a few template-friendly alternatives.

if, elseif, else

<?php
$price = 120;
if ($price > 100) {
  echo 'Expensive';
} elseif ($price > 50) {
  echo 'Mid-range';
} else {
  echo 'Cheap';
}

Conditions live inside parentheses and can combine with and, or, not, or the symbols &&, ||, and !.

switch for multiple branches

switch ($status) {
  case 'draft':
    echo 'Not published';
    break;
  case 'live':
    echo 'Visible';
    break;
  default:
    echo 'Unknown';
}

break stops fall-through into the next case.

for and foreach

for counts iterations, and foreach walks arrays:

for ($i = 1; $i <= 3; $i++) {
  echo $i;
}

$tags = ['php', 'mysql', 'web'];
foreach ($tags as $tag) {
  echo $tag;
}

Include the key form to get both parts:

foreach ($user as $key => $value) {
  echo "$key: $value";
}

Alternative syntax for templates

if, while, foreach, and for have a colon form that reads cleanly between HTML blocks, ending with endif, endwhile, endforeach, or endfor.

while and do-while

while checks before each round, and do-while always runs at least once.

Key Points

• if, elseif, and else branch on conditions.
• switch plus break handles many fixed cases.
• for counts, foreach iterates arrays.
• Foreaching keys uses the key => value form.
• Colon syntax keeps templates readable.