Short form for Java if statement

Best practices using ternary operator

Null-dodge dance

While dancing the ternary operator, null values might get under your feet and lead to a NullPointerException. Always make sure to check for null values when using the ternary operator.

Readability rocks!

​Though the ternary operator may tempt you with its brevity, remember, readability still rocks! For the greater good of your future self and fellow devs, use it when the condition and results are simple and intuitive.

Testing for our future

Upon refactoring your verbose if-else blocks to a one-line ternary operator, celebrate by testing it heartily. Confirm that the refactored code lives up to the original if-else's functionality, and break out the cookies!

Deeper dive - Advanced techniques

Unfurling nested ternaries

If you have multiple conditions, like in a game of whack-a-mole, you could nest ternaries. Be cautious as they might lose some clarity faster than a politician loses credibility:

int trafficLight = (color.equals("red")) ? 0 :
                   (color.equals("yellow")) ? 1 : 2; // What's the color, mate?
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The null knight

We may not have a null-coalescing operator in Java (like we do in some other languages), but a ternary can serve pretty well:

String username = (userInput != null) ? userInput : "defaultUser"; // Who are you? DefaultUser has entered the chat!
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Optimizing loops

Think about using a ternary within loops for setting a peculiarly perky preference:

for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
    results[i] = (i % 2 == 0) ? "even" : "odd"; // Meet my sibling arrays, Even Steven and Odd Todd!
}
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