Reading and understanding ternary operators?

Question

I'm trying to understand ternary operators and don't see an example with return statements.

 return (next == null) ? current : reversing(current,next);

How would you write that without the ternary operator? Is it just:

if (next == null) { 

} else { 
  return (current,next);

*don't see an example with return statements* why would that affect the workings? — Tim, Mar 02 '17 at 15:20
see documentation http://stackoverflow.com/documentation/java/118/basic-control-structures/2806/ternary-operator#t=201703021604546865206 — Venom, Mar 02 '17 at 16:06

score 5 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 02 '17 at 15:20

Your version:

if (next == null) {
    return current;
} else {
    return reversing(current,next);
}

That said, the else isn't necessary. I'd put the early return on null on its own:

if (next == null) {
    return current;
}

return reversing(current, next);

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 02 '17 at 15:21

3

return (next == null) ? current : reversing(current, next);

is equivalent to

if (next == null) {
    return current;
} else {
    return reversing(current, next);
}

answered Mar 02 '17 at 15:21

Culp

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 02 '17 at 15:19

2

No. You would write as follows

if (next == null) {
    return current;
} else {
    return reversing(current, next);
}

answered Mar 02 '17 at 15:19

nbro

3 Answers3