What is the difference between the operators =, ==, and === in the context of comparing values and data types?

In PHP, the operators =, ==, and === have different purposes:

• = — assignment operator. Used to assign a value to a variable.

  $a = 5; // assigns the value 5 to variable $a
  

• == — comparison operator by value. Checks if the values of two variables are equal, performing a loose comparison with type juggling.

  var_dump(5 == '5'); // true, because the values are equal after type juggling
  

• === — strict comparison operator. Checks for equality both by value and by type.

  var_dump(5 === '5'); // false, because the types are different (int and string)
  

Thus, === is more strict and safer for comparison, especially when it is important to consider data types.