Ternary Operator vs. if/else: When Should You Use Which?

Comparison of ternary operator and traditional if/else statement

The ternary operator, also known as a conditional expression, provides a neat alternative to the traditional if/else statement block in some situations. To understand its operation, let's compare it with a regular if/else statement.

Consider the following if/else block:

<code>布尔型 isValueBig;

if( value > 100 ) { 
  isValueBig = true;
} else { 
  isValueBig = false;
}</code>

In this code block, the if statement checks whether the variable value is greater than 100. If true, assign isValueBig to true; otherwise, assign it to false. The ternary operator performs a similar operation, but in a more concise way:

<code>布尔型 isValueBig = ( value > 100 ) ? true : false;</code>

The syntax of the ternary operator is as follows:

<code>变量 = ( 条件 ) ? 真值 : 假值;</code>

Decomposition of ternary operator:

• Condition: Evaluates a Boolean expression and determines which branch to execute.
• True value: The value assigned to the variable if the condition is true.
• False: The value assigned to the variable if the condition is false.

In our example, the condition is whether value is greater than 100. If true, assign isValueBig to true; otherwise, assign it to false. This behavior is the same as the if/else block described previously.

By understanding the syntax of the ternary operator and comparing it to regular if/else statements, you can effectively use this shorthand notation in your code.

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