What is the significance of the === operator in PHP when comparing values?

The === operator in PHP is a strict comparison operator that not only compares the values of two variables, but also checks if they are of the same type. This means that when using ===, both the value and the type of the variables must match for the comparison to return true. This can be useful in scenarios where you want to ensure that two variables are not only equal in value, but also of the same data type.

$value1 = 5;
$value2 = '5';

if ($value1 === $value2) {
    echo "The values and types are equal.";
} else {
    echo "The values or types are not equal.";
}