Ternary operator usage in Ruby - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

❓ Predict Output

intermediate

What is the output of this Ruby code using ternary operator?

Consider the following Ruby code snippet. What will it print?

Ruby

x = 5
puts x > 3 ? "Greater" : "Smaller"

A false

B Smaller

C true

D Greater

💡 Hint

Check if x is greater than 3 and what the ternary operator returns.

Since x is 5, which is greater than 3, the condition is true, so the first string "Greater" is printed.

❓ Predict Output

intermediate

What does this nested ternary operator print?

Analyze the output of this Ruby code with nested ternary operators.

Ruby

a = 10
b = 20
puts a > b ? "a is bigger" : a == b ? "equal" : "b is bigger"

A b is bigger

B a is bigger

C equal

D SyntaxError

💡 Hint

Check the first condition a > b, then the second condition a == b.

Since 10 > 20 is false, it checks a == b which is also false, so it prints "b is bigger".

🔧 Debug

advanced

What error does this Ruby code raise?

Identify the error raised by this Ruby code snippet using ternary operator.

Ruby

num = 7
result = num > 5 ? "High" :
"Low"
puts result

A No error, prints High

B SyntaxError

C No error, prints Low

D NameError

💡 Hint

Check if the line break affects the ternary operator syntax.

Ruby allows line breaks after the ? operator if the expression continues, so no error occurs and since num is 7 > 5, it prints High.

❓ Predict Output

advanced

What is the value of variable 'output' after running this code?

Determine the value stored in 'output' after this Ruby code executes.

Ruby

value = nil
output = value ? "Exists" : "Nil or false"
puts output

A Exists

B Nil or false

C nil

D false

💡 Hint

Remember how Ruby treats nil in conditionals.

In Ruby, false and nil are falsy. value is nil, which is falsy, so the ternary returns "Nil or false".

❓ Predict Output

expert

What is the output of this Ruby code with complex ternary and method call?

Analyze the output of this Ruby code snippet.

Ruby

def check(num)
  num.even? ? "Even" : num > 10 ? "Odd and big" : "Odd and small"
end

puts check(7)

A Even

B Odd and big

C Odd and small

D NoMethodError

💡 Hint

Check the method call and nested ternary logic carefully.

7 is odd (not even), so first condition false, then checks if 7 > 10 (false), so returns "Odd and small".