Unexpected result from double ternary

Question

The following results in $c getting 'a', when intuition says it should get tie. What is going on here?

$a = 3;
$b = 3;
$c = $a === $b ? 'tie' : $a > $b ? 'a' : 'b';
var_dump($c); // shows a

@RB, thanks! [The answer from Konrad Rudolph](https://stackoverflow.com/a/6203072/66580) explained why this is the case. — Majid Fouladpour, May 23 '18 at 10:41

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered May 23 '18 at 10:34

2

Yo need to put the code between ()

    $a = 3;
    $b = 3;
    $c = ($a === $b ? 'tie' : ($a > $b ? 'a' : 'b'));

answered May 23 '18 at 10:34

Nerea

[Due to `precedence`.](http://php.net/manual/en/language.operators.precedence.php) – deEr. May 23 '18 at 10:38
It seems we only need one set of grouping as this produces correct results for all cases: `$c = $a === $b ? 'tie' : ($a > $b ? 'a' : 'b');` – Majid Fouladpour May 23 '18 at 10:44
1

@MajidFouladpour yes you only need one but for me is more readable like this – Nerea May 23 '18 at 10:47

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered May 23 '18 at 10:37

1

$a = 3;
$b = 3;
$c = ($a === $b) ? 'tie' : (($a > $b) ? 'a' : 'b');
var_dump($c);

answered May 23 '18 at 10:37

vinayakamoorthi

2 Answers2