Ternary Operator

The ternary operator, also known as the conditional operator, is a shorthand way of writing an if-else statement in a single line of code. It takes three operands: a condition, a value to return if the condition is true, and a value to return if the condition is false. The syntax of the ternary operator is as follows:

condition ? value_if_true : value_if_false

The condition is evaluated first. If it is true, the value_if_true expression is returned. If it is false, the value_if_false expression is returned. The ternary operator is often used as a more concise alternative to an if-else statement in situations where the condition is simple and the resulting code is easy to read.

For example, consider the following if-else statement:

if (x > 0) { y = x; } else { y = -x; }

This can be rewritten using the ternary operator as:

y = (x > 0) ? x : -x;

The ternary operator can also be nested to handle more complex conditions. For example:

result = (x > 0) ? "Positive" : (x < 0) ? "Negative" : "Zero";

This code checks if x is greater than 0. If it is, the value "Positive" is returned. If not, the code checks if x is less than 0. If it is, the value "Negative" is returned. If x is neither greater nor less than 0, the value "Zero" is returned.

While the ternary operator can make code more concise and easier to read in some cases, it can also make code harder to understand if used excessively or inappropriately. It is important to use the ternary operator judiciously and to prioritize code clarity and maintainability over brevity.