Ternary Conditional Operator for nil/not nil

Question

I can use the ternary conditional operator for an if {} else {} statement like this: a ? x : y, or question ? answer1 : answer2.

Is it possible to use this format to check if, instead of whether a is true or false, a == nil or a != nil?

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UPDATE: This was arguably the biggest brain fart of my career.

Answer 1

You can do this:

(a == nil) ? x : y

(Parentheses are not required but may make the code clearer.)

You can do this if you want something more confusing:

a.map { _ in x } ?? y

Answer 2

  a != nil ? a! : b

The code above uses the ternary conditional operator and forced unwrapping (a!) to access the value wrapped inside a when a is not nil, and to return b otherwise. The nil coalescing operator provides a more elegant way to encapsulate this conditional checking and unwrapping in a concise and readable form.

example :

let defaultColorName = "red"
var userDefinedColorName: String?   // defaults to nil

var colorNameToUse = userDefinedColorName ?? defaultColorName
// userDefinedColorName is nil, so colorNameToUse is set to the default of "red"

Reference : Apple documentation