Why Unexpected Result in Ternary Operator String Concatenation?

Ternary Operator String Concatenation Unexpected Result

In a recent coding scenario, certain code behavior has left a developer puzzled. The code in question utilizes the ternary conditional operator to determine a string value based on a given condition. However, the results are not as expected.

The Code and Observation

The code under scrutiny is as follows:

$description = 'Paper: ' . ($paperType == 'bond') ? 'Bond' : 'Other';

The intention behind this code is to assign 'Paper: Bond' to the $description variable if the $paperType is 'bond' and 'Paper: Other' if $paperType is not 'bond'.

However, upon executing the code, the developer observed that $description is either assigned the value 'Bond' or 'Other' directly, without the expected prefix 'Paper: '. This seemingly peculiar outcome has prompted a search for an explanation.

The Fix

Upon closer analysis, it becomes evident that parentheses are omitted around the ternary expression. This omission alters the order of operations, resulting in the unexpected behavior.

The correct code should be:

$description = 'Paper: ' . ($paperType == 'bond' ? 'Bond' : 'Other');

With the parentheses in place, the string 'Paper: ' is correctly concatenated with the result of the ternary expression, ensuring that the desired output is achieved.

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