Triple Plus Operator

<?php

$a = 1;
$b = $a+++ ++$a;
echo $b;

This is a white space trick, where the expression allows for ++ and + to follow each other. Note that it is not possible to make a quadruple (four times) or pentuple (five times), operator, as PHP does not parse it anymore.

See Also

• Incrementing/Decrementing Operators

• Operators

• Triple plus operator in action [Try me]

PHP Features

• plus

• post-increment

Last updated: 14 July 2026