{"id":201,"date":"2020-10-04T09:15:49","date_gmt":"2020-10-04T09:15:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pythontutorial.net\/?page_id=201"},"modified":"2025-03-26T10:19:52","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T10:19:52","slug":"python-ternary-operator","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.pythontutorial.net\/python-basics\/python-ternary-operator\/","title":{"rendered":"Python Ternary Operator"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Summary<\/strong>: in this tutorial, you’ll learn about the Python ternary operator and how to use it to make your code more concise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introduction to Python Ternary Operator #<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The following program determines the ticket’s price based on the age of a person:<\/p>\n\n\n

age = 19<\/span>\nif<\/span> age >= 18<\/span>:\n    ticket_price = 20<\/span>\nelse<\/span>:\n    ticket_price = 5<\/span>\n\nprint(f\"The ticket price is ${ticket_price}<\/span>\"<\/span>)<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Python<\/span> (<\/span>python<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Output:<\/p>\n\n\n
The ticket price is<\/span> $20<\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Python<\/span> (<\/span>python<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
if<\/span> age >= 18<\/span>:\n    ticket_price = 20<\/span>\nelse<\/span>:\n    ticket_price = 5<\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Python<\/span> (<\/span>python<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
To make it more concise, you can use an alternative syntax of the if...else<\/code> statement like this:<\/p>\n\n\n
ticket_price = 20<\/span> if<\/span> age >= 18<\/span> else<\/span> 5<\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Python<\/span> (<\/span>python<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
In this statement, the left side of the assignment operator (=<\/code>) is the variable ticket_price<\/code>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The expression on the right side returns 20 if the age<\/code> is greater than or equal to 18<\/code> or 5<\/code> otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here’s the basic syntax of ternary operator<\/strong> in Python:<\/p>\n\n\n
value_if_true if<\/span> condition else<\/span> value_if_false<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Python<\/span> (<\/span>python<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
The ternary operator evaluates the condition<\/code>. If the result is True<\/code>, it returns the value_if_true<\/code>. Otherwise, it returns the value_if_false<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ternary operator is equivalent to the following if...else<\/code> statement:<\/p>\n\n\n
if<\/span> condition:\n    value_if_true\nelse<\/span>:\n    value_if_false<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Python<\/span> (<\/span>python<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
condition ? value_if_true : value_if_false<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Python<\/span> (<\/span>python<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
However, Python doesn’t support this kind of ternary operator syntax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The following program uses the ternary operator instead of the if<\/code> statement:<\/p>\n\n\n
age = 20<\/span>\nticket_price = 20<\/span> if<\/span> int(age) >= 18<\/span> else<\/span> 5<\/span>\n\nprint(f\"The ticket price is ${ticket_price}<\/span>\"<\/span>)<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Python<\/span> (<\/span>python<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
The ticket price is $20<\/code><\/span><\/pre>\n\n\n
Summary #<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Try it<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n
Note that you have been programming languages such as C# or Java<\/a>, and you’re familiar with the following ternary operator syntax:<\/p>\n\n\n
In this example, the following if...else<\/a><\/code> statement set the ticket price to 20 if the age is greater than or equal 18 or 5 if otherwise:<\/p>\n\n\n
Try it<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n