The Java Ternary Operator (aka Conditional Operator)

The Java ternary operator, also known as the conditional operator, is a far more condensed version of if/else statements, but somewhat more limiting. It is extremely useful, but gets far too little usage. The basic syntax is as follows:

result = condition ? ifTrue : ifFalse;

Basically, if the condition is true, result is set to ifTrue, if it is false result is set to ifFalse. Here is another example:

int result = (5 < 4) ? 1 : 2;

In this case result would be 2 as 5 < 4 evaluates to false. (The parentheses around the 5 < 4 are optional, I just like to use them for improved readability).

The ternary operator can also be used inline with other code, which comes in handy in this example:

System.out.println(onlineUsers + (onlineUsers > 1 ? "users" : "user"));

As you can see, the ternary operator makes it much easier to add in proper pluralization, something I rarely used to bother with before.

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