PHP Switch & Match - PHP Tutorial

switch

Use switch when you're comparing one value against many possibilities.

PHP

<?php
  $day = "Sun";

  switch ($day) {
      case "Sat":
      case "Sun":
          echo "Weekend";
          break;
      case "Mon":
          echo "Start of the week";
          break;
      default:
          echo "Midweek";
  }

break is mandatory. Without it, execution "falls through" into the next case — occasionally useful (as with Sat/Sun above), usually a bug.

switch uses loose (==) comparison, which can surprise you:

PHP

<?php
  switch ("1abc") {
      case 1:  echo "matched 1!"; break;  // PHP 7 matched here
      default: echo "default";            // PHP 8 lands here
  }

match (PHP 8+)

match is the modern replacement: it uses strict comparison, needs no break, and returns a value.

PHP

<?php
  $status = 'paid';

  $label = match ($status) {
      'new'       => 'Awaiting payment',
      'paid'      => 'Payment received',
      'shipped'   => 'On the way',
      'cancelled' => 'Cancelled',
      default     => 'Unknown',
  };

  echo $label; // Payment received

Several values can share a result:

PHP

<?php
  $type = match ($code) {
      200, 201, 204 => 'success',
      400, 404      => 'client error',
      500, 502      => 'server error',
      default       => 'other',
  };

Unlike switch, a match with no matching arm and no default throws an UnhandledMatchError — which is usually what you want, because silently doing nothing hides bugs.

Prefer match for new code; you'll still meet switch everywhere in existing projects.

switch

match (PHP 8+)

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