php - Operators (operands?) as Parameters

Question

I am trying to avoid duplicating my code by checking the variable if it is a certain operator.

Basically..

$op = $_POST['operator'];
$x = 5;
$y = 2;
$result = $x /* $op instead of '+'/'-'/'*'/'/'/'%' */ $y;

Is this possible or will I have to send the operator as a String and duplicate the code per operator type?

Answer 1

It's a lot safer to do something like this:

$x = 5;
$y = 2;

switch($_POST['operator']){
    case '+':
        $result = $x + $y;
        break;
    case '-':
        $result = $x - $y;
        break;
    case '*':
        $result = $x*$y;
        break;
    case '/':
        $result = $x/$y;
        break;
    case '%':
        $result = $x % $y;
        break;
     default:
        $result = 'Operator not supported';
}

Something along those lines.