Does Python have a ternary conditional operator?

• tinyytopic.com
• 0
• on Mar 21, 2023

Yes, Python has a ternary conditional operator. The ternary operator is a shorthand way of writing an if-else statement in a single line of code.

The syntax for the ternary operator in Python is:

value_if_true if condition else value_if_false

Here, condition is the expression that is evaluated as either True or False. If condition is True, then the expression value_if_true is evaluated and returned. Otherwise, the expression value_if_false is evaluated and returned.

For example, consider the following code that uses an if-else statement:

x = 5

if x > 0:
    sign = "positive"
else:
    sign = "non-positive"

This can be rewritten using the ternary operator as follows:

x = 5
sign = "positive" if x > 0 else "non-positive"

In this example, the ternary operator is used to assign the value of sign based on whether x is greater than 0 or not. If x is greater than 0, the value of sign will be “positive”. Otherwise, the value of sign will be “non-positive”.

Note that the ternary operator can be a convenient way to write concise and readable code, but it can also make the code harder to read if used excessively or in complex expressions. Therefore, it is generally recommended to use the ternary operator only when the expression is short and simple.