Execution Operators
PHP supports one execution operator: backticks (``). Note that these are not single-quotes! PHP will attempt to execute the contents of the backticks as a shell command; the output will be returned (i.e., it won't simply be dumped to output; it can be assigned to a variable). Use of the backtick operator is identical to shell_exec.
Backtick Operator
<?php
$output = `ls -al`;
echo "<pre>$output</pre>";
?>
The backtick operator is disabled when shell_exec is disabled.
Unlike some other languages, backticks have no special meaning within double-quoted strings.
ENTITY
| ENTITY | ENTITY |
|---|---|
| 8.5.0 | The backtick operator as an alias for shell_exec has been deprecated. |
ENTITY
Program Execution functions, popen, proc_open, Using PHP from the commandline