Ternary Operator

The ternary operator is a one-line shortcut for an if/else that returns a value. The syntax is condition ? value_if_true : value_if_false.

age = 20
status = age >= 18 ? "Eligible" : "Not Eligible"
puts status   # Eligible

It's the same as writing:

status = if age >= 18
           "Eligible"
         else
           "Not Eligible"
         end

Use the ternary when both branches return short values. If either branch needs more than one expression, fall back to a real if/else: packing too much into a ternary makes it hard to read.

You can use it directly inside other expressions, including interpolation:

count = 1
puts "#{count} item#{count == 1 ? "" : "s"}"   # 1 item
count = 5
puts "#{count} item#{count == 1 ? "" : "s"}"   # 5 items