Why function returns boolean value?

Question

I am writing my own function which returns lower argument between two arguments.

My first solution was:

function min(a, b) {
  if (a < b)
    return a;
  else
    return b;
}

console.log(min(0, 10));
// → 0

But I wanted to simplify it and wrote another one function:

function min(a, b) {
   return a ? a < b : b;
}
console.log(min(0, 10));
// → true

Why my second function returns boolean value instead of number? Can I change this behavior?

Can I change this behavior? - what you need to change is your understanding of how condition ? whentruthy : whenfalsey works :p — Jaromanda X
– Jaromanda X, Commented Feb 7, 2017 at 23:10
If a is 0 then it's falsey so a? a < b : b should return b (i.e. 10), not true. — RobG
– RobG, Commented Feb 7, 2017 at 23:16

kiranvj · Accepted Answer · 2017-02-07 23:09:19Z

2

It should be

function min(a, b) {
   return a < b ? a : b;
}
console.log(min(0, 10));

answered Feb 7, 2017 at 23:09

kiranvj

34.2k8 gold badges75 silver badges81 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Comments

dckuehn · Accepted Answer · 2017-02-07 23:10:50Z

1

Your ternary operater is a little funky.

It should be boolean ? returnValueForTrue : returnValueForFalse;

So yours is doing a ? boolean : b and I'm not sure what that actually turns into. a ? boolean would turn into a boolean.

So yours should be

return a < b ? a : b;

answered Feb 7, 2017 at 23:10

dckuehn

2,4953 gold badges29 silver badges37 bronze badges