Do you have to include a false value in a ternary operator PHP?

Question

I need to add append data to a string if a certain variable is true, if not, I don't need to append anything. Currently I'm doing:

$string = (condition()) ? 'something'.$string.'something' : $string;

Is there a way to skip adding the false option in a ternary operator? It seems wasteful to say $string = $string if the condition is false.

Answer 1

You can't skip it. You could re-write as a one line if condition though:

if (condition()) $string = 'something'.$string.'something';

Answer 2

No, there's no way to skip it. If you want to skip the false bit, go back to the if method:

if (condition()) $string = 'something' . $string . 'something';

The ternary method is just a short-hand if statement anyway. If you can make the if statement just as short without sacrificing readability (as in the example above), you should consider it.

But, to be honest, I'd even format that to make it more readable:

if (condition())
    $string = 'something' . $string . 'something';

Unless you're desperately short of monitor height, that will be easier to understand at a glance :-)