PHP short tags: if/else

Alternative syntax for control structures.

PHP offers an alternative syntax for some of its control structures; namely, if, while, for, foreach, and switch. In each case, the basic form of the alternate syntax is to change the opening brace to a colon (:) and the closing brace to endif;, endwhile;, endfor;, endforeach;, or endswitch;, respectively. (source: php.net)

Alternative syntax for control structures for If / Else

Basic True / False Declaration

$is_admin = ($user['permissions'] == 'admin' ? true : false);

Conditional Welcome Message

echo 'Welcome '.($user['is_logged_in'] ? $user['first_name'] : 'Guest').'!';

Conditional Items Message

echo 'Your cart contains '.$num_items.' item'.($num_items != 1 ? 's' : '').'.';

Conditional Error Reporting Level

error_reporting($WEBSITE_IS_LIVE ? 0 : E_STRICT);

Conditional Basepath

echo '<base href="http'.($PAGE_IS_SECURE ? 's' : '').'://escapequotes.com" />';

Nested PHP Shorthand

echo 'Your score is: '.($score > 10 ? ($age > 10 ? 'Average' : 'Exceptional') : ($age > 10 ? 'Horrible' : 'Average') );

Leap Year Check

$is_leap_year = ((($year % 4) == 0) && ((($year % 100) != 0) || (($year %400) == 0)));

Conditional PHP Redirect

header('Location: '.($valid_login ? '/articles/list' : 'login.php?errors=1')); exit();

source