When writing Java programs, you’ll often need to choose between two values depending on whether a condition is true or false. Normally, you might use an if-else statement for this, but Java also gives us a more concise way: the conditional operator, also known as the ternary operator (?:).
The General Form:
condition ? valueIfTrue : valueIfFalse
Here’s what happens:
- Java checks the condition, which must evaluate to either true or false.
- If the condition is true, the whole expression evaluates to valueIfTrue.
- If the condition is false, the whole expression evaluates to valueIfFalse.
This allows you to write decisions in a single line of code.
Example Code(Finding the minimum of 2 numbers):
int x = 5, y = 10;
int min = (x < y) ? x : y;
System.out.println(min);
This evaluates to the same result as writing;
int min;
if (x < y) {
min = x;
} else {
min = y;
}
Final Thoughts
The conditional operator is a handy shortcut that can make your Java code more elegant. For quick decisions between two values, it’s often better than writing out a full if-else block. Next time you need to choose between two options, try using ?: and see how much cleaner your code looks!
Top comments (2)
Super clean one-liner for decision logic, way more elegant than a full if-else.
Very true!!