PHP if not equal(!=) and or (||) issue. Why doesnt this work?

Question

I know this is simple PHP logic but it just won\'t work...

 $str = \"dan\";
 if(($str != \"joe\") 
   || ($str != \"danielle\")
   || ($str != \"heather\")
          


        

Answer 1

Another approach is

$name = 'dan';
$names = array('joe', 'danielle', 'heather', 'laurie', 'dan');

if(in_array($name,$names)){  
    //the magic
}