What is a ternary operator?

The ternary operator (condition ? expression1 : expression2) is a shorthand form of the if-else conditional operator. It returns one of two values depending on the truthfulness of the condition.

Example of usage:

const age = 20;
const status = age >= 18 ? 'Adult' : 'Minor';
// status will be 'Adult'

This code is equivalent to the following:

const age = 20;
let status;
if (age >= 18) {
  status = 'Adult';
} else {
  status = 'Minor';
}

The ternary operator is convenient for simple conditional assignments and expressions, making the code more compact. However, for complex logic, if-else or switch are preferred.