The ternary operator is not a shorthand way of writing an if block. It's a shorthand way of writing an if block that returns a value. 
if ($expression) {
  $var = "foo";
} else {
  $var = "bar";
}

# WRONG
$expression ? $var = "foo" : $var = "bar";

# correct
$var = $expression ? "foo" : "bar";

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In reply to Re: Warning while using ternary operator by Anonymous Monk
in thread Warning while using ternary operator by simonz

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