Question

68

Why can't we have return in the ternary operator?

rated 0 times [ 70] [ 2] / answers: 1 / hits: 67620 / 8 Years ago, fri, february 5, 2016, 12:00:00

Say I've a simple form and I want to check whether form has changed or not. If its changed submit it else prevent form submission, so I used return and instead of using if-else statement I tried to use ternary operation but unfortunately I was hit with error Uncaught SyntaxError: Unexpected token return but I did not understand why this error? Is ternary operation only used to assign? Not sure on this part. Below is just a sample of what I was trying to do.

var form_original_data = $(#frmProfile).serialize();



$(#frmProfile).on('submit', function(e) {

  e.preventDefault();

  $(#frmProfile).serialize() != form_original_data ? $(body).append('changed') : return;

})

<script src=https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js></script>

<form id=frmProfile>

  <input type=text value=name />

  <input type=submit value=Go />

</form>

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bobbie

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1 Year ago

answered 8 Years ago mckenna · Accepted Answer

The ternary operator evaluates to an expression and expressions can't contain a return statement (how would that behave if you were to assign the expression to a variable?). However, you could very well return the result of a ternary operator, i.e. return condition? returnValue1 : returnValue2;

On your specific point, I don't see why you would like to return. It looks like you're trying to do something only if a condition is fulfilled. A simple if statement would probably be more adequate there.