List of Parser Tokens

Various parts of the PHP language are represented internally by tokens. A code snippet that contains an invalid sequence of tokens may lead to errors like Parse error: syntax error, unexpected token "==", expecting "(" in script.php on line 10." where token == is internally represented by T_IS_EQUAL.

The following table lists all tokens. They are also available as PHP constants.

Note: Usage of T_* constants

T_* constants values are automatically generated based on PHP's underlying parser infrastructure. This means that the concrete value of a token may change between two PHP versions. This means that your code should never rely directly on the original T_* values taken from PHP version X.Y.Z, to provide some compatibility across multiple PHP versions.

To make use of T_* constants across multiple PHP versions, undefined constants may be defined by the user (using big numbers like 10000) with an appropriate strategy that will work with both PHP versions and T_* values.

<?php // Prior to PHP 7.4.0, T_FN is not defined. defined('T_FN') || define('T_FN', 10001);

**Tokens**
Token	Syntax	Reference
`T_ABSTRACT`	abstract	Class Abstraction
`T_AMPERSAND_FOLLOWED_BY_VAR_OR_VARARG`	&	Type declarations (available as of PHP 8.1.0)
`T_AMPERSAND_NOT_FOLLOWED_BY_VAR_OR_VARARG`	&	Type declarations (available as of PHP 8.1.0)
`T_AND_EQUAL`	&=	assignment operators
`T_ARRAY`	array()	array(), array syntax
`T_ARRAY_CAST`	(array)	type-casting
`T_AS`	as	foreach
`T_ATTRIBUTE`	#[	attributes (available as of PHP 8.0.0)
`T_BAD_CHARACTER`		anything below ASCII 32 except \t (0x09), \n (0x0a) and \r (0x0d) (available as of PHP 7.4.0)
`T_BOOLEAN_AND`	&&	logical operators
`T_BOOLEAN_OR`	\|\|	logical operators
`T_BOOL_CAST`	(bool) or (boolean)	type-casting
`T_BREAK`	break	break
`T_CALLABLE`	callable	callable
`T_CASE`	case	switch
`T_CATCH`	catch	Exceptions
`T_CLASS`	class	classes and objects
`T_CLASS_C`	__CLASS__	magic constants
`T_CLONE`	clone	classes and objects
`T_CLOSE_TAG`	?> or %>	escaping from HTML
`T_COALESCE`	??	comparison operators
`T_COALESCE_EQUAL`	??=	assignment operators (available as of PHP 7.4.0)
`T_COMMENT`	// or #, and /* */	comments
`T_CONCAT_EQUAL`	.=	assignment operators
`T_CONST`	const	class constants
`T_CONSTANT_ENCAPSED_STRING`	"foo" or 'bar'	string syntax
`T_CONTINUE`	continue	continue
`T_CURLY_OPEN`	{$	complex variable parsed syntax
`T_DEC`	--	incrementing/decrementing operators
`T_DECLARE`	declare	declare
`T_DEFAULT`	default	switch
`T_DIR`	__DIR__	magic constants
`T_DIV_EQUAL`	/=	assignment operators
`T_DNUMBER`	0.12, etc.	floating point numbers
`T_DO`	do	do..while
`T_DOC_COMMENT`	/** */	PHPDoc style comments
`T_DOLLAR_OPEN_CURLY_BRACES`	${	complex variable parsed syntax
`T_DOUBLE_ARROW`	=>	array syntax
`T_DOUBLE_CAST`	(real), (double) or (float)	type-casting
`T_DOUBLE_COLON`	::	see `T_PAAMAYIM_NEKUDOTAYIM` below
`T_ECHO`	echo	echo
`T_ELLIPSIS`	...	function arguments
`T_ELSE`	else	else
`T_ELSEIF`	elseif	elseif
`T_EMPTY`	empty	empty()
`T_ENCAPSED_AND_WHITESPACE`	" $a"	constant part of string with variables
`T_ENDDECLARE`	enddeclare	declare, alternative syntax
`T_ENDFOR`	endfor	for, alternative syntax
`T_ENDFOREACH`	endforeach	foreach, alternative syntax
`T_ENDIF`	endif	if, alternative syntax
`T_ENDSWITCH`	endswitch	switch, alternative syntax
`T_ENDWHILE`	endwhile	while, alternative syntax
`T_ENUM`	enum	Enumerations (available as of PHP 8.1.0)
`T_END_HEREDOC`		heredoc syntax
`T_EVAL`	eval()	eval()
`T_EXIT`	exit or die	exit(), die()
`T_EXTENDS`	extends	extends, classes and objects
`T_FILE`	__FILE__	magic constants
`T_FINAL`	final	Final Keyword
`T_FINALLY`	finally	Exceptions
`T_FN`	fn	arrow functions (available as of PHP 7.4.0)
`T_FOR`	for	for
`T_FOREACH`	foreach	foreach
`T_FUNCTION`	function	functions
`T_FUNC_C`	__FUNCTION__	magic constants
`T_GLOBAL`	global	variable scope
`T_GOTO`	goto	goto
`T_HALT_COMPILER`	__halt_compiler()	__halt_compiler
`T_IF`	if	if
`T_IMPLEMENTS`	implements	Object Interfaces
`T_INC`	++	incrementing/decrementing operators
`T_INCLUDE`	include	include
`T_INCLUDE_ONCE`	include_once	include_once
`T_INLINE_HTML`		text outside PHP
`T_INSTANCEOF`	instanceof	type operators
`T_INSTEADOF`	insteadof	Traits
`T_INTERFACE`	interface	Object Interfaces
`T_INT_CAST`	(int) or (integer)	type-casting
`T_ISSET`	isset()	isset()
`T_IS_EQUAL`	==	comparison operators
`T_IS_GREATER_OR_EQUAL`	>=	comparison operators
`T_IS_IDENTICAL`	===	comparison operators
`T_IS_NOT_EQUAL`	!= or <>	comparison operators
`T_IS_NOT_IDENTICAL`	!==	comparison operators
`T_IS_SMALLER_OR_EQUAL`	<=	comparison operators
`T_LINE`	__LINE__	magic constants
`T_LIST`	list()	list()
`T_LNUMBER`	123, 012, 0x1ac, etc.	integers
`T_LOGICAL_AND`	and	logical operators
`T_LOGICAL_OR`	or	logical operators
`T_LOGICAL_XOR`	xor	logical operators
`T_MATCH`	match	match (available as of PHP 8.0.0)
`T_METHOD_C`	__METHOD__	magic constants
`T_MINUS_EQUAL`	-=	assignment operators
`T_MOD_EQUAL`	%=	assignment operators
`T_MUL_EQUAL`	*=	assignment operators
`T_NAMESPACE`	namespace	namespaces
`T_NAME_FULLY_QUALIFIED`	\App\Namespace	namespaces (available as of PHP 8.0.0)
`T_NAME_QUALIFIED`	App\Namespace	namespaces (available as of PHP 8.0.0)
`T_NAME_RELATIVE`	namespace\Namespace	namespaces (available as of PHP 8.0.0)
`T_NEW`	new	classes and objects
`T_NS_C`	__NAMESPACE__	namespaces
`T_NS_SEPARATOR`	\	namespaces
`T_NUM_STRING`	"$a[0]"	numeric array index inside string
`T_OBJECT_CAST`	(object)	type-casting
`T_OBJECT_OPERATOR`	->	classes and objects
`T_NULLSAFE_OBJECT_OPERATOR`	?->	classes and objects
`T_OPEN_TAG`	<?php, <? or <%	escaping from HTML
`T_OPEN_TAG_WITH_ECHO`	<?= or <%=	escaping from HTML
`T_OR_EQUAL`	\|=	assignment operators
`T_PAAMAYIM_NEKUDOTAYIM`	::	::. Also defined as `T_DOUBLE_COLON`.
`T_PLUS_EQUAL`	+=	assignment operators
`T_POW`	**	arithmetic operators
`T_POW_EQUAL`	**=	assignment operators
`T_PRINT`	print	print
`T_PRIVATE`	private	classes and objects
`T_PROTECTED`	protected	classes and objects
`T_PUBLIC`	public	classes and objects
`T_READONLY`	readonly	classes and objects (available as of PHP 8.1.0)
`T_REQUIRE`	require	require
`T_REQUIRE_ONCE`	require_once	require_once
`T_RETURN`	return	returning values
`T_SL`	<<	bitwise operators
`T_SL_EQUAL`	<<=	assignment operators
`T_SPACESHIP`	<=>	comparison operators
`T_SR`	>>	bitwise operators
`T_SR_EQUAL`	>>=	assignment operators
`T_START_HEREDOC`	<<<	heredoc syntax
`T_STATIC`	static	variable scope
`T_STRING`	parent, self, etc.	identifiers, e.g. keywords like `parent` and `self`, function names, class names and more are matched. See also `T_CONSTANT_ENCAPSED_STRING`.
`T_STRING_CAST`	(string)	type-casting
`T_STRING_VARNAME`	"${a	complex variable parsed syntax
`T_SWITCH`	switch	switch
`T_THROW`	throw	Exceptions
`T_TRAIT`	trait	Traits
`T_TRAIT_C`	__TRAIT__	`__TRAIT__`
`T_TRY`	try	Exceptions
`T_UNSET`	unset()	unset()
`T_UNSET_CAST`	(unset)	type-casting
`T_USE`	use	namespaces
`T_VAR`	var	classes and objects
`T_VARIABLE`	$foo	variables
`T_WHILE`	while	while, do..while
`T_WHITESPACE`	\t \r\n
`T_XOR_EQUAL`	^=	assignment operators
`T_YIELD`	yield	generators
`T_YIELD_FROM`	yield from	generators