Concatenation and increment

Learn string concatenation with . and .=, and increment/decrement with ++ and --.

String concatenation: .

In PHP, you join two strings with the . operator. It behaves like + in JavaScript, but in PHP + only adds numbers.

For example, $first . " " . $last joins the first and last names with a space between them. You can chain several parts: $greeting = "Hello" . " " . $name;.

.= and increment operators

If you keep appending to a string, the .= shortcut is very useful. After $msg = "Welcome";, writing $msg .= ", " . $name; adds the new string to the end of $msg.

To increase a number by one use ++, to decrease it by one use --. The expression $count++ means the same as $count = $count + 1; you will see it often in loop counters.

Exercise Build a greeting message

Assign the string "Hello" to $greeting as the starting value, then append $name with the . operator. Finally print $greeting with echo.

Show example solution

To join the string, write $greeting = "Hello" . " " . $name;
Example solution:
<?php
$name = "Alex";
// Build the greeting
$greeting = "Hello" . " " . $name;
echo $greeting;

Test yourself

What is the output of echo "Hello" . " " . "World";?
```
echo "Hello" . " " . "World";
```
- Hello World
- HelloWorld
- Hello. World
- error
Show answer

Hello World — Correct. The three parts join with a space in between.

Write the concatenation assignment

$greeting = "Hello";
$greeting ____ " World";
echo $greeting;

Show answer

$greeting = "Hello";
$greeting .= " World";
echo $greeting;

Match each operator to its meaning

.

Concatenate
.=

Concat and assign
++

Increment
--

Decrement

Next lesson: Summary - Operators

We Are Enhancing Your Experience

Cookie Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Analytical Cookies