 <p>It's equivalent to</p> <pre><code>least = Math.min(least, k); </code></pre> <p>or</p> <pre><code>if (!(least &lt; k)) { least = k } </code></pre> <p>See also: <a href="http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/nutsandbolts/op2.html">the Java documentation on the ternary operator</a> (scroll to the "The Conditional Operators" section).</p>