How to use the ternary operator in Java without an else branch

Question

I have this expresion and I want to have it in a sigle line using the ? operator.

for (Area a : listaArea) {
    if (a.getIdArea() == user.getIdArea()) {
        user.setNomArea(a.getNomArea());
    }
}

This is what I tried:

for (Area a : listaArea) {a.getIdArea() == user.getIdArea() ? user.setNomArea(a.getNomArea())}

How to convert that if into a ? expresion?

As a side note: I wouldn't use the ternary operator in your case, because it's less readable. — stuXnet, Jan 21 '15 at 14:03
@KazMiller Yes, as the JLS states : _"It is a compile-time error for either the second or the third operand expression to be an invocation of a void method."_. Also why would you want to use the ternary operator for this kind of thing? — user2336315, Jan 21 '15 at 14:18
You can not use the ternary operator in void context. See [here](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/9450864/java-ternary-with-no-return-for-method-calling) — Jens, Jan 21 '15 at 14:21
@Jens "If there is no value being produced, the conditional operator is not a shortcut" that should be the answer — Kaz Miller, Jan 21 '15 at 14:24
@Kayaman No you can't if the setters have a return type as void. — user2336315, Jan 21 '15 at 14:26
Reopen reviewers - this was closed as a duplicate of the wrong question as noted by @Jens - please vote to reopen if only so we can then vote to close again with the correct duplicate — RobV, Jan 21 '15 at 14:59

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 21 '15 at 16:46

As the JLS states:

It is a compile-time error for either the second or the third operand expression to be an invocation of a void method.

Assuming that your setter is more likely to have no return type, then no it's not possible to use the ternary operator in this context.

1 Answers1