Question

Original question based on completely wrong logic :O

$(function() {
  var x=0,y=1;
  $("#div_id").find("input:text").each(function (i, input)  {
    $(this).val(""+(i % 2 == 0)?x++:y++);
  });
});  

If I remove the “”+ from the value, I get this wrong result

instead of what I want, which is this:

Same if I use prop:

    $(this).prop("value",""+(i % 2 == 0)?x++:y++);

Same if I prefix the ++

What am I overlooking? Is this an obvious thing?

---

UPDATE: I completely missed the boat here.

Here is the code I meant to write and it works without the “”

$(function() {
  var x=0,y=1;
  var inputs = $("#div_id").find("input:text");
  var y = Math.ceil(inputs.size()/2);
  inputs.each(function (i, input)  {
    $(this).prop("value",(i % 2 == 0)?++x:++y);
  });
});  

Answer 1

"" + (i % 2 == 0) ? x++ : y++

is interpreted as (see precedence rules)

("" + (i % 2 == 0)) ? x++ : y++

and ("" + (i % 2 == 0)) is always truthy, because both "true" and "false" are non-empty strings. So in your example, you’re using x++ all the time, ignoring the y++ branch.