Colon¶

Colons are used in a variety of situations:

With named parameters, to separate the name from the value
With labels, for goto
With ternary operator, separated or not from the question mark
In include_path and open_basedir, double-colon is used as a separator

The double colon is a distinct operator.

<?php

    goto there;
    there:

    foo(a: 3); //

    $b = $a ? 'a' : 'b';
    $c = $c ?: 'a';

?>

Related : Goto, Goto Labels, Ternary Operator, Coalesce Operator, Coalesce Operator, Named Parameters, Scope Resolution Operator ::, Separator, Scope Resolution Operator ::, Semicolon, Static Class