The match expression in PHP

PHP 8's answer to switch: strict comparison, a return value, no fallthrough.

<?php
$status = 404;

// match compares with ===, returns a value, and never falls through
$label = match ($status) {
    200, 204 => "success",
    301, 302 => "redirect",
    404 => "not found",
    500 => "server error",
    default => "unknown",
};

echo "$status: $label", PHP_EOL;
echo match (true) {
    $status >= 400 => "trouble",
    default => "fine",
}, PHP_EOL;

How it works

1. match ($status) compares each arm with === and yields the arm's value.
2. Commas group codes, so 200, 204 share one label; default catches the rest.
3. match (true) turns the arms into arbitrary conditions, like range checks.

Keywords and builtins used here

• default
• echo
• match
• true

The run, in numbers

Lines

17

Characters to type

346

Tokens

80

Three-star pace

80 tpm

At the three-star pace of 80 tokens a minute, this run takes about 60 seconds.

Type this snippet

Step 2 of 3 in Control flow, step 5 of 27 in Language basics.

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