An other way for controls is the ternary operator (see Comparison Operators) that can be used as follows:
<?php
$v = 1;
$r = (1 == $v) ? 'Yes' : 'No'; // $r is set to 'Yes'
$r = (3 == $v) ? 'Yes' : 'No'; // $r is set to 'No'
echo (1 == $v) ? 'Yes' : 'No'; // 'Yes' will be printed
// and since PHP 5.3
$v = 'My Value';
$r = ($v) ?: 'No Value'; // $r is set to 'My Value' because $v is evaluated to TRUE
$v = '';
echo ($v) ?: 'No Value'; // 'No Value' will be printed because $v is evaluated to FALSE
?>
Parentheses can be left out in all examples above.