Executes one of two statements depending on a condition.

test ? statement1 : statement2

Arguments

test

Any Boolean expression.

statement1

A statement executed if test is true. May be a compound statement.

statement2

A statement executed if test is false. May be a compound statement.

Remarks

The ?: operator is a shortcut for an if...else statement. It is typically used as part of a larger expression where an if...else statement would be awkward. For example:

var now = new Date();
var greeting = "Good" + ((now.getHours() > 17) ? " evening." : " day.");

The example creates a string containing "Good evening." if it is after 6pm. The equivalent code using an if...else statement would look as follows:

var now = new Date();
var greeting = "Good";
if (now.getHours() > 17)
   greeting += " evening.";
else
   greeting += " day.";

Requirements

Version 1

See Also

if...else Statement | Operator Precedence | Operator Summary