is a shorthand way of writing an if-else statement

it was used to make simple conditions simpler and more readable

for more complex conditions it is recommended to use traditional if-else

syntax

the ? is equal to if and : is equal to else

const age = 20
age >= 18 ? console.log('You are eligible to vote') : console.log('You are not eligible to vote')
// Output: You are eligible to vote

example without using else

you don't need to write variable = true, use variable

if the variable is true, you can write it as variable ?

if you don't want to do anything if it is false, you can use null

const variable = true
variable ? console.log('good') : null

or for more simpler you can use && to check if it's true without else

const variable = true
variable && console.log('good') // Output: good

use ? to check if variables have value

if the variables were null or undefined, the code after ? will not be executed

it was used to prevent error

const arr = [1, 2, 3]
console.log(arr?.length); // Output: 3

example in React

if using React, you can render the element inside the () directly

import React from 'react'

function TernaryOperator() {
  const age = 18

  return (
    <p>
      {age >= 18 ? ('You are eligible to vote') : ('You are not eligible to vote')}
    </p>
  )
}

export default TernaryOperator

so it makes the code more readable because you can put the operator inside the HTML element and render it there