Table of Contents

Introduction

The match expression branches evaluation based on an identity check of a value. Similar to a switch statement, a match expression has a subject expression that is compared against multiple alternatives. However, unlike switch, it will evaluate to a value much like a ternary expression. Also, unlike switch, the comparison is an identity check (===) rather than a weak equality check (==).

Match expressions are available as of PHP 8.0.0.

Syntax of the match Expression

The syntax of the match expression is given as:

Syntax

The match expression.

1$return_value = match (subject_expression) {
2    single_conditional_expression => return_expression,
3    conditional_expression1, conditional_expression2 => return_expression,
4};
Note

A match expression must be terminated by a semicolon ;.

As with switch statements, match expressions are executed match arm by match arm. In the beginning, no code is executed. The conditional expressions are only evaluated if all previous conditional expressions failed to match the subject expression. Only the return expression corresponding to the matching conditional expression will be evaluated.

The key differences between a match expression and a switch statement:

  • A match arm compares values strictly (===) instead of loosely as the switch statement does.
  • Though a match expression doesn’t allow for fallthrough conditions, it can combine multiple conditions on the same line, separated by commas.
  • A match expression returns a value.
  • A match expression doesn’t require a break statement

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Using the match Expression

Example

Using the match expression.

 1<?php
 2    $var2 = 2;
 3    $var1 = match($var2){
 4        1, 2    => 'Weekly',
 5        3       => 'Monthly',
 6        4, 5    => 'Quarterly',
 7        default => 'Annually',
 8    };
 9    echo "The outcome is $var1.";
10?>

The outcome is Weekly.

If none of the conditional expressions matches the subject expression, the default return expression is executed.

Example

Using the match expression with no matching conditional expression.

 1<?php
 2    $var2 = 80;
 3    $var1 = match($var2){
 4        1, 2    => 'Weekly',
 5        3       => 'Monthly',
 6        4, 5    => 'Quarterly',
 7        default => 'Annually',
 8    };
 9    echo "The outcome is $var1.";
10?>

The outcome is Annually.

It is also possible to use the match expression to branch on integer ranges.

Example

Using the match expression on integer ranges.

 1<?php
 2    $age = 33;
 3    $cat = match (true) {
 4        $age >= 65 => 'senior',
 5        $age >= 25 => 'adult',
 6        $age >= 18 => 'young adult',
 7        default => 'kid',
 8    };
 9    echo "Your age is $age and you are in the $cat category.";
10?>

Your age is 33 and you are in the adult category.

The following example was previously illustrated using the switch statement. We now rework using the match expression.

Example

Using the match expression on integer ranges.

 1<?php
 2    $salary = 8000;
 3    $KPI = 62;
 4    $bonus = match (true){
 5        $KPI > 80 => 1000,
 6        $KPI > 70 && $KPI <= 80 => 1000,
 7        $KPI > 60 && $KPI <= 70 => 500,
 8        default => 0,
 9    };
10    $salary += $bonus;
11    echo "Your bonus is $bonus. <br>" ;
12    echo "Your updated salary is $salary." ;
13?>

Your bonus is 500.
Your updated salary is 8500.

The match expression is well-suited for cases where multiple cases result in the same outcome.

Example

Using the match expression.

 1<?php
 2    $month = "May";
 3    $daysInMonth =  match ($month){
 4        "February" => 28,
 5        "January", "March", "May", "July", "August", "October", "December" => 31,
 6        "April", "June", "September", "November" => 30,
 7        default => "invalid month.",
 8    };
 9    echo "There are $daysInMonth days in the month of $month.";
10?>

There are 31 days in the month of May.