What does the -> operator do?

[cdbsi]

It is not in the php manual but I see it in everyone's code.

What does it do and how can I use it?

[suntra]

Well... it's principally used with classes...

Read this : http://www.php.net/manual/en/ref.classobj.php

Also, there is something similar that exists... "=>". You can use it with arrays...

$my_arr = array("item_1" => "value 1", "item_2" => "value 2");

Would give :
$my_arr["item_1"] = "value 1";
$my_arr["item_2"] = "value 2";

Do you understand now ?

Hope it helped.