javascript: using ternary operator for if/else if/else statement

Question

I was looking at these if statements:

 if (cellDate < filterLocalDateAtMidnight) {
    return -1;
 } else if (cellDate > filterLocalDateAtMidnight) {
    return 1;
 } else {
    return 0;
 }

from this article and I was wondering why short hand if statements were not used (I.e. using the ternary operator)> is there a disadvantage to using it? It seems like a good opportunity to use it.

If it can be used, is the below how you would simplify it? I'd like to refactor my code although I'm a little worried about straying from the example in the article (and inadvertently introducing some special case glitches)

cellDate < filterLocalDateAtMidnight ? -1 :(cellDate > filterLocalDateAtMidnight : 1 : 0 );

i assume the separate if statements are used in case of null/undefined values?

Your ternary expression correctly represents the if else statements. If else statements can be expressed in a compact way using ternary operator. — Rajesh P
– Rajesh P, Commented Jul 23, 2017 at 12:07

David L. Walsh · Accepted Answer · 2017-07-23 12:05:03Z

1

Nested ternaries are confusing to read and should generally avoided. See the Airbnb style guide.

With numerical comparisons you can usually just use subtraction. i.e.

return cellDate - filterLocalDateAtMidnight;

But beware that this solution is vulnerable to integer overflow for really large numbers.

answered Jul 23, 2017 at 12:05

David L. Walsh

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