When used in PHP the ? is called a ternary operator. The ternary operator is like a simplified if statement and else statement combined. If tests an expression and returns one of two expressions separated by a colon. If the test expression is true, the result to the left of the colon is returned. If it is false, the result to the right of the colon is returned. The syntax looks like this:
<?
$output = ( test ) ? "if_true" : "if_false";
?>
The ternary operator is useful when there are only two possible results to your test and if you like compact code. In the example below, I use the ternary operator to validate a password.
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