Is there a backwards version of a ternary operator in php? - PHP Versions

MichaelGrinnell
June 3, 2022
191 views
2 votes
3 Answers

I am trying to assign some value to one array if a condition is true otherwise I want to assign it to another array. I know this is possible with an if statement. However, I am wondering if it can be done with the syntax of a ternary operator?

Using an if statement it would look like this

        if(condition){
            $foo[] = $value;
        } else{
            $bar[] = $value;
        }

However, my question is if it is possible to write it similar to this?

        ((condition) ? ($foo[]) : ($bar[])) = $value;

Answers

- AymDev
- June 3, 2022 at 12:02 pm
- 0 votes
0
A statement like this will only result in a syntax error, or a fatal error:
```
(true ? $foo : $bar)[] = 42;
// Fatal error: Cannot use temporary expression in write contex
```
You could also try to reference the but it still won’t work:
```
$arr = true ? &$foo : &$bar;
$arr[] = 42;
// Parse error: syntax error, unexpected token "&"
```
The if statement is probably your best option. However if you really want to do something like this, you could use a single associative array with foo and bar just being keys:
```
$arr = [
    'foo' => [],
    'bar' => [],
];

$arr[true ? 'foo' : 'bar'][] = 42;
```
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- nice_dev
- June 3, 2022 at 12:09 pm
- 0 votes
0
Yes you can but slightly different from the way you desire, like below:
- First way is to assign value in each of the ternary blocks.
```
true ? ($foo[] = $value) : ($bar[] = $value);
```
Online Demo
- Second way is to use array_push like below:
```
array_push(${ true ? 'foo' : 'bar' }, $value);
```
Online Demo

Note: Replace the true with your condition.
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