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Ternary Conditional Operator in Python

Ternary Conditional Operator in Python

 

The ternary conditional operator is an easier way of writing an if-else statement. The ternary operator has three components:  expression, positive value and negative value.

 

In the standardized way of expressing the ternary operator, we use a question mark and a colon.

Syntax :

expression ? positive value : negative value

When the expression evaluates to true, the positive value is used—otherwise, the negative value is used.

eligible_for_voting = (age >= 18) true : false;       # standardized ternary operator

 

Python on the other hand does not use the above-standardized syntax. In Python, the components are rearranged and the keywords if and else are used.

Syntax :

[positive value] if [expression] else [negative value]

Ternary Operators, also called as conditional expressions, are operators that evaluate something based on a condition being true or false. These have the lowest priority of all Python operators.

 

The first condition gets evaluated, then based on the Boolean value of the condition, either a or b is returned. 

If the condition returns True, a is returned, else b is returned.

 

Example 1:

>>eligible_for_voting = True if age >= 18 else False        #Python Ternary Operator

 

Example 2:

>>a = 10
>>b = 20
>>c = 2 * a if a == 10 else b 

Output:

20

 

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