Create JavaScript Conditional Operators

Have you ever wanted to shorten a JavaScript "if" statement into one simple line? Read on and find out a neat way to shorten your short conditional statements (also called ternary statements).

Steps

1. Declare your variables and whatnot: var numberOne = 1; var x;
2. Use the question mark (?) and the colon (:) to create a conditional statement. After the question mark (?) you have two statements divided up by the colon (:). The first statement (before the colon) will be executed if the condition is true and the second (after the colon) if the condition is false.
   
   
   For example: (#1)
   
   This illustrates the short-hand way of creating the following "if" statement:
   
   　　x = (numberOne == 1) ? true : false;
   
   Normal one:
   
   　　if(numberOne == 1){
　　　　x = true;
　　}else{
　　　　x = false;
　　}
   
   An even shorter way of writing that would be:
   
   　　x = (number == 1);
   
   For example: (#2)
   
   If x is true, then doThis().
   
   Normal:
   
   　　if(x){
　　　　doThis();
　　}
   
   Shorthand:
   
   　　(x) ? doThis() : 0;
   
   Even shorter:
   
   　　x && doThis()
   
   For example: (#3)
   
   If x is false, then doThis().
   
   Normal:
   
   　　if(!x){
　　　　doThis();
　　}
   
   Shorthand:
   
   　　(!x) ? doThis() : 0;
   
   Even shorter:
   
   　　x || doThis()
   
   
3. As in the if statement; not adding the : and the value after that, the statement will still work.

Warnings

• If you need to do more than one operation on either side of the colon then don't use the conditional operator.
• If other people are going to be reading and having to comprehend your script, try to avoid use of the ternary operator because it's unnecessarily hard to read.

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