Match

PHP Control Structures: Match
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Examples

Basic

$name = match(2) {
    1 => 'One',
    2 => 'Two',
    default => echo 'Unknown: ' . $name,
};

echo $name; // "Two"

Multiple matching conditions

match($request_method) {
    'post' => $this->handlePost(),
    'get', 'head' =>  $this->handleGet(),
};

Strict matches without type coercion

function read(mixed $key): string {
    return match ($key) {
        1 => 'Integer 1',
        '1' => 'String 1',
        true => 'Bool true',
        [] => 'Empty array',
        [1] => 'Array [1]',
    };
}

read(1); // "Integer 1"
read('1'); // "String 1"
read(true); // "Bool true"

Error Example

Multiple expression

// ERROR
match($name) {
    'foo' => 
        initFoo();
        processFoo();
};

No match

// Fatal error: Uncaught UnhandledMatchError in ...
value = 3;
match($value) {
    1 => 'One',
    2 => 'Two',
};

match vs switch

switch match
Requires PHP ^8.0 No Yes
Returns value No Yes
default condition support Yes Yes
Multiple conditions in single arm Yes Yes
Multiple expressions in code block Yes No
Implicit break No Yes
Falls-through without break Yes No
Throws an exception on no matches No Yes
Match against arbitrary expressions Yes Yes
Strict type-safe comparison No Yes

Reference