Does Python have a ternary conditional operator?

Yes, It was added in version 2.5. The expression syntax is:

a if condition else b

First condition is evaluated, then exactly one of either a or b is evaluated and returned based on the Boolean value of condition. If condition evaluates to True, then a is evaluated and returned but b is ignored, or else when b is evaluated and returned but a is ignored.

This allows short-circuiting because when condition is true only a is evaluated and b is not evaluated at all, but when condition is false only b is evaluated, and a is not evaluated at all.

For example:

>>> true if True else false
true
>>> true if False else false
false

Note that conditionals are an expression, not a statement. This means you cant use assignment statements or pass or other statements within a conditional expression:

>>> pass if False else x = 3
  File <stdin>, line 1
    pass if False else x = 3
          ^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax

You can, however, use conditional expressions to assign a variable like so:

x = a if True else b

Think of the conditional expression as switching between two values. It is very useful when youre in a one value or another situation, but it doesnt do much else.

If you need to use statements, you have to use a normal if statement instead of a conditional expression.

Keep in mind that its frowned upon by some Pythonistas for several reasons:

The order of the arguments is different from those of the classic condition ? a : b ternary operator from many other languages (such as C, C++, Go, Perl, Ruby, Java, JavaScript, etc.), which may lead to bugs when people unfamiliar with Pythons surprising behavior use it (they may reverse the argument order).
Some find it unwieldy since it goes contrary to the normal flow of thought (thinking of the condition first and then the effects).
Stylistic reasons. (Although the inline if can be really useful, and make your script more concise, it really does complicate your code)

If youre having trouble remembering the order, then remember that when read aloud, you (almost) say what you mean. For example, x = 4 if b > 8 else 9 is read aloud as x will be 4 if b is greater than 8 otherwise 9.

Official documentation:

You can index into a tuple:

(falseValue, trueValue)[test]

test needs to return True or False.
It might be safer to always implement it as:

(falseValue, trueValue)[test == True]

or you can use the built-in bool() to assure a Boolean value:

(falseValue, trueValue)[bool(<expression>)]

Does Python have a ternary conditional operator?

For versions prior to 2.5, theres the trick:

[expression] and [on_true] or [on_false]

It can give wrong results when on_true has a false Boolean value.¹

Although it does have the benefit of evaluating expressions left to right, which is clearer in my opinion.

_{1. Is there an equivalent of C’s ”?:” ternary operator?}

Does Python have a ternary conditional operator?

Does Python have a ternary conditional operator?

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