Why Inc & Decrement Fails ?

Hi,

$page = 10;
echo 'page ' .$page; //echoes: 10

echo 'backward ' .$backward = $page--; //echoes: 10
echo "<br>"; echo "<br>";
echo 'forward ' .$forward = $page++; //echoes: 9
echo "<br>"; echo "<br>";
Strange!

Why is the decrement failing ?
Since $page = 10, then decrementing that ($backward) should = 9. But echoes 10!

Again, since $page = 10, then incrementing that ($forward) should = 11. But echoes 9!