JavaScript ternary operator example with functions

Heh, there are some pretty exciting uses of ternary syntax in your question; I like the last one the best...

x = (1 < 2) ? true : false;

The use of ternary here is totally unnecessary - you could simply write

x = (1 < 2);

Likewise, the condition element of a ternary statement is always evaluated as a Boolean value, and therefore you can express:

(IsChecked == true) ? removeItem($this) : addItem($this);

Simply as:

(IsChecked) ? removeItem($this) : addItem($this);

In fact, I would also remove the IsChecked temporary as well which leaves you with:

($this.hasClass("IsChecked")) ? removeItem($this) : addItem($this);

As for whether this is acceptable syntax, it sure is! It's a great way to reduce four lines of code into one without impacting readability. The only word of advice I would give you is to avoid nesting multiple ternary statements on the same line (that way lies madness!)

I would also like to add something from me.

Other possible syntax to call functions with the ternary operator, would be:

(condition ? fn1 : fn2)();

It can be handy if you have to pass the same list of parameters to both functions, so you have to write them only once.

(condition ? fn1 : fn2)(arg1, arg2, arg3, arg4, arg5);

You can use the ternary operator even with member function names, which I personally like very much to save space:

$('.some-element')[showThisElement ? 'addClass' : 'removeClass']('visible');

or

$('.some-element')[(showThisElement ? 'add' : 'remove') + 'Class']('visible');

Another example:

var addToEnd = true; //or false
var list = [1,2,3,4];
list[addToEnd ? 'push' : 'unshift'](5);

The ternary style is generally used to save space. Semantically, they are identical. I prefer to go with the full if/then/else syntax because I don't like to sacrifice readability - I'm old-school and I prefer my braces.

The full if/then/else format is used for pretty much everything. It's especially popular if you get into larger blocks of code in each branch, you have a muti-branched if/else tree, or multiple else/ifs in a long string.

The ternary operator is common when you're assigning a value to a variable based on a simple condition or you are making multiple decisions with very brief outcomes. The example you cite actually doesn't make sense, because the expression will evaluate to one of the two values without any extra logic.

Good ideas:

this > that ? alert(this) : alert(that);  //nice and short, little loss of meaning

if(expression)  //longer blocks but organized and can be grasped by humans
{
    //35 lines of code here
}
else if (something_else)
{
    //40 more lines here
}
else if (another_one)  /etc, etc
{
    ...

Less good:

this > that ? testFucntion() ? thirdFunction() ? imlost() : whathappuh() : lostinsyntax() : thisisprobablybrokennow() ? //I'm lost in my own (awful) example by now.
//Not complete... or for average humans to read.

if(this != that)  //Ternary would be done by now
{
    x = this;
}
else
}
    x = this + 2;
}

A really basic rule of thumb - can you understand the whole thing as well or better on one line? Ternary is OK. Otherwise expand it.