Why ternary expression is not updating the value while if statement is working fine?

Question

I have also tried changing the ternary expression to produce the equivalent result:

is_balanced = (Math.abs(lh-rh)<=1) ? true:false;

static boolean is_balanced=true;

public static int balHeight(Node node) {
   if(node==null) return 0;
   
   int lh  = balHeight(node.left);
   int rh  = balHeight(node.right);
   
  if(Math.abs(lh-rh)>1) is_balanced = false;
    **// ternary not working here
    // is_balanced = Math.abs(lh-rh) > 1 ? false:true;**
   
   return Math.max(lh,rh)+1;
}

Answer 1

The equivalent code would be is_balanced = Math.abs(lh - rh) > 1 ? false : is_balanced.

(Or, without the ternary: is_balanced = is_balanced && Math.abs(lh - rh) <= 1.)