“Unexpected T_OBJECT_OPERATOR” error in PHP

Question

I am getting the following error:

Parse error: syntax error, unexpected T_OBJECT_OPERATOR in.. on line 52. 

Line 52 is if ($result = mysqli->query.... If I comment out the line, the same error occurs on $mysqli->query("INSERT INTO....

Why does this give the error?

$unique_code = ""; $inserted = false; while(!$inserted) {     $unique_code = generateCode();     echo $unique_code;      // Check if it exists     if ($result = mysqli->query("SELECT unique_code FROM coming_soon_emails WHERE unique_code = '$unique_code'")) {         // Check no record exists         if ($result->num_rows == 0) {             // Create new record             $mysqli->query("INSERT INTO coming_soon_emails (email,unique_code) VALUES ('" . $mysqli->real_escape_string($_POST['email']) . "','$unique_code')");             // Set inserted to true to ext loop             $inserted = true;             // Close the result object             $result->close();         }     } else {         // Quit if we can't check the database         die('Something went wrong with select');     }    } 

Answer 1

You forgot the dollar sign before $mysqli.