Is there a Java equivalent of JavaScript var a = b || c

Question

I am trying to create a variable and assign a value (if it exists) else assign a default value (short hand, like var a = b || c; in JavaScript)

public Object a = b || new Object();

Is that possible?

this [answer](http://stackoverflow.com/a/5223065/5090771) may help — WhiteHat, Oct 28 '15 at 14:02
No i would just do an `if` statement checking and if not then create a default one. — 3kings, Oct 28 '15 at 14:17

score 7 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 28 '15 at 14:00

7

Probably the ternary operator will be useful:

Object a = b != null ? b : new Object();

If b is not null, then a will be assigned to b, otherwise it will be assigned to a new Object().

answered Oct 28 '15 at 14:00

Konstantin Yovkov

Tunaki · Answer 2 · 2015-10-28T14:08:24.247

5

There is no direct equivalent.

The most simple way would be:

public Object a = b == null ? new Object() : b;

Note that with Java 8, if b were defined as Optional<Object> (if not, you can always turn it into an Optional using Optional.ofNullable(b)), you could use orElseGet and write:

public Object a = b.orElseGet(Object::new);

which mimics the JavaScript syntax.

edited Oct 28 '15 at 14:08

answered Oct 28 '15 at 14:02

Tunaki

2 Answers2