Can I only use if and else in a statement in ternary operator syntax or can I also somehow include an else if?
example:
if(a) {
x
}
else if(y) {
c
}
else {
b
}
Unlike an if with optional else or optional else if branches, a ternary operator has two and only two branches.
It's actually a part of the name. Where + in a + b is a binary operator, that is it has two operands, ? has three, as in a ? b : c, and is termed ternary because of that. Technically there could be other ternary operators beyond ? but in most languages they don't exist, so it is generally understood that the name "ternary" means the ? operator.
You can have else if like functionality if you sub-branch the second clause:
a ? b : (c ? d : e)
This is usually a bad idea as ternary operations can be messy to start with and layering like this is usually an express train to unmaintainable code.
It is much better to write:
if (a) {
b
}
else if (c) {
{
d
}
else {
e
}
This is more verbose, but abundantly clear.
If you use ternaries too agressively you'll end up with code like:
a()?c?d?e:f:g:h?i(j?k:l?m:n):o
Where it's anyone's guess what's going on in there.