The ? : operator in Java

The value of a variable often depends on whether a particular boolean expression is or is not true and on nothing else. For instance one common operation is setting the value of a variable to the maximum of two quantities. In Java you might write

if (a > b) {
  max = a;
}
else {
  max = b;
}

Setting a single variable to one of two states based on a single condition is such a common use of if-else that a shortcut has been devised for it, the conditional operator, ?:. Using the conditional operator you can rewrite the above example in a single line like this:
max = (a > b) ? a : b;
(a > b) ? a : b; is an expression which returns one of two values, a or b. The condition, (a > b), is tested. If it is true the first value, a, is returned. If it is false, the second value, b, is returned. Whichever value is returned is dependent on the conditional test, a > b. The condition can be any expression which returns a boolean value.



The conditional operator only works for assigning a value to a variable, using a value in a method invocation, or in some other way that indicates the type of its second and third arguments. For example, consider the following

if (name.equals("Rumplestiltskin")) {
  System.out.println("Give back child");
}
else {
  System.out.println("Laugh");
}

This may not be written like this:

name.equals("Rumplestiltskin") 
 ? System.out.println("Give back child") 
 : System.out.println("Laugh");

First of all, both the second and third arguments are void. Secondly, no assignment is present to indicate the type that is expected for the second and third arguments (though you know void must be wrong).
The first argument to the conditional operator must have or return boolean type and the second and third arguments must return values compatible with the value the entire expression can be expected to return. You can never use a void method as an argument to the ? : operator.