Conditional operator in Coffeescript

Question

I really like this:

var value = maxValue > minValue ? minValue : maxValue;

Is there something equally concise in Coffescript?

Answer 1

This is a case where it feels like CoffeeScript has competing philosophies:

1. Be concise
2. Don't be redundant

Since all operations return a result, the if/then/else way of doing things gives you what you need. Adding the ?/: operator is redundant.

This is where I wish they'd give us the ?/: ternary operator even though it is redundant... it simply reads better than the if/then/else variant.

Just my 2c.

Answer 2

value = maxValue > minValue && minValue || maxValue

This is actually not correct, check the comments.

Answer 3

value = if maxValue > minValue then minValue else maxValue

Answer 4

There is a more concise option in both javascript and coffeescript :)

value = Math.min(minValue, maxValue)

Answer 5

As Răzvan Panda points out, my comment may actually one of the better answers:

value = `maxValue > minValue ? minValue : maxValue`

Answer 6

Below is the fact:

In the documentation, there's a section titled "Conditionals, Ternaries, and Conditional Assignment". This leads one to believe that coffeescript supports

condition ? when-true : when-false 

but in fact it does not.

Below is the information about the patch which will solve this issue

Here's the patch (and it's pushed to coffeescript.org):

http://github.com/jashkenas/coffee-script/commit/ec2d358ae3c82e9888c60695d7cce05edde0c55a

Examples:

mood = greatlyImproved if singing

if happy and knowsIt
  clapsHands()
  chaChaCha()
else
  showIt()

date = if friday then sue else jill

options or= defaults