---
id: if-else-in-JSX
title: If-Else in JSX
layout: tips
permalink: if-else-in-JSX.html
prev: inline-styles.html
next: self-closing-tag.html
---
`if-else` statements don't work inside JSX. This is because JSX is just syntactic sugar for function calls and object construction. Take this basic example:
```js
/** @jsx React.DOM */
// This JSX:
React.renderComponent(< div id = "msg" > Hello World!< / div > , mountNode);
// Is transformed to this JS:
React.renderComponent(React.DOM.div({id:"msg"}, "Hello World!"), mountNode);
```
This means that `if` statements don't fit in. Take this example:
```js
/** @jsx React.DOM */
// This JSX:
< div id = {if ( condition ) { ' msg ' } } > Hello World!< / div >
// Is transformed to this JS:
React.DOM.div({id: if (condition) { 'msg' }}, "Hello World!");
```
That's not valid JS. You probably want to make use of a ternary expression:
```js
/** @jsx React.DOM */
React.renderComponent(< div id = {condition ? ' msg ' : ' ' } > Hello World!< / div > , mountNode);
```
Try using it today with the [JSX compiler ](/react/jsx-compiler.html ).
