Conditional expression

  • Conditional expression:

    • Conditional expression = an expression that returns a value based on a condition

  • Syntax of the conditional expression in Java: 

       condition ? valueWhenTrue : valueWhenFalse

    Example on how to use a conditional expression: 

                                  Same effect:

   y = (x > 0) ? 1 : -1;      if ( x > 0 )
                                 y = 1;
                              else
                                 y = -1;

A common usage of the conditional expression

  • The conditional expression is often used to:

    • Compute the maximum (or minimum) of 2 numbers

    Example: 

    public class FindMaxMin 
{
   public static void main(String[] args) 
   {
      Scanner input = new Scanner(System.in);
       
      double x, y, max, min;
      
      x = input.nextDouble();
      y = input.nextDouble();

      max = (x > y) ? x : y; 
      min = (x < y) ? x : y;
   }
}

DEMO: demo/03-selections/09-cond-expr/FindMaxMin.java