I'd say that "<?=" being always-available is a verbosity reduction along the lines of short array syntax. The alternative of using "<?php echo" can be quite noi

I'd say that "<?=" being always-available is a verbosity reduction along the lines of short array syntax. The alternative of using "<?php echo" can be quite noisy for some (me). This allows short tags to be disabled for XML clash-avoidance while still allowing the user to use the short-form of echo.