Ternary operator (PowerShell 7+) - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

💻 Command Output

intermediate

What is the output of this PowerShell ternary expression?

Consider the following PowerShell code snippet using the ternary operator. What will it output?

PowerShell

$value = 10; $result = ($value -gt 5) ? 'Greater' : 'Smaller'; Write-Output $result

A False

B Greater

C Smaller

D True

💡 Hint

Check if the condition $value -gt 5 is true or false.

The condition $value -gt 5 checks if 10 is greater than 5, which is true, so the ternary operator returns 'Greater'.

📝 Syntax

intermediate

Which option correctly uses the ternary operator to assign a value?

Select the PowerShell code snippet that correctly uses the ternary operator to assign 'Even' or 'Odd' to $parity based on $num.

A $parity = if ($num % 2 -eq 0) { 'Even' } else { 'Odd' }

B $parity = ($num % 2 == 0) ? 'Even' : 'Odd'

C $parity = ($num % 2 -eq 0) ? 'Even' else 'Odd'

D $parity = ($num % 2 -eq 0) ? 'Even' : 'Odd'

💡 Hint

Remember PowerShell uses '-eq' for equality and the ternary operator requires '?' and ':'

Option D uses the correct equality operator '-eq' and the proper ternary syntax '? :'. Option D uses '==' which is invalid in PowerShell. Option D misses the ':' separator. Option D uses an if-else statement, not a ternary operator.

🔧 Debug

advanced

Identify the error in this ternary operator usage

What error will this PowerShell code produce?

PowerShell

$x = 5; $y = $x -gt 3 ? 'Yes' : 'No'; Write-Output $y

A Runtime error: Unexpected token '?'

B No error, outputs 'Yes'

C SyntaxError: Missing parentheses around condition

D Output is 'No'

💡 Hint

Check the syntax for the ternary operator in PowerShell 7+.

PowerShell requires the condition to be enclosed in parentheses when using the ternary operator. Without parentheses, the '?' is unexpected, causing a syntax error.

🚀 Application

advanced

Using ternary operator to simplify a script

You want to assign 'Adult' if $age is 18 or more, otherwise 'Minor'. Which code snippet correctly uses the ternary operator to do this?

A $status = if ($age -ge 18) { 'Adult' } else { 'Minor' }

B 'roniM' : 'tludA' ? )81 eg- ega$( = sutats$

C $status = ($age -ge 18) ? 'Adult' : 'Minor'

D $status = ($age -ge 18) ? 'Minor' : 'Adult'

💡 Hint

PowerShell uses '-ge' for greater or equal comparison and ternary operator syntax is '? :'.

Option C correctly uses '-ge' and the ternary operator syntax. Option C uses if-else, not ternary. Option C uses '>=' which is invalid in PowerShell. Option C reverses the true and false values.

🧠 Conceptual

expert

What is the value of $output after running this code?

Given the code below, what is the value of $output?

PowerShell

$a = 4; $b = 7; $output = ($a -eq 4) ? (($b -gt 5) ? 'X' : 'Y') : 'Z'; Write-Output $output

A X

B Y

C Z

D 7

💡 Hint

Evaluate the nested ternary operators step by step.

First, $a -eq 4 is true, so evaluate the nested ternary: $b -gt 5 is true (7 > 5), so the inner ternary returns 'X'.