[FIXED] Why can't we have return in the ternary operator?

Issue

Say I've a simple form and I want to check whether form has changed or not. If its changed submit it else prevent form submission, so I used return and instead of using if-else statement I tried to use ternary operation but unfortunately I was hit with error Uncaught SyntaxError: Unexpected token return but I did not understand why this error? Is ternary operation only used to assign? Not sure on this part. Below is just a sample of what I was trying to do.

var form_original_data = $("#frmProfile").serialize();

$("#frmProfile").on('submit', function(e) {
  e.preventDefault();
  $("#frmProfile").serialize() != form_original_data ? $("body").append('changed') : return;
})

<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<form id="frmProfile">
  <input type="text" value="name" />
  <input type="submit" value="Go" />
</form>

Solution

The ternary operator evaluates to an expression and expressions can't contain a return statement (how would that behave if you were to assign the expression to a variable?). However, you could very well return the result of a ternary operator, i.e. return condition? returnValue1 : returnValue2;

On your specific point, I don't see why you would like to return. It looks like you're trying to do something only if a condition is fulfilled. A simple if statement would probably be more adequate there.

Answered By - Aaron

Answer Checked By - Terry (PHPFixing Volunteer)