The docs seem to state otherwise One instance of where this is handy is for returning a 'sensible default' value if an expression resolves to false

The docs seem to state otherwise One instance of where this is handy is for returning a 'sensible default' value if an expression resolves to false or null http://groovy.codehaus.org/Operators#Operators-ElvisOperator http://groovy.codehaus.org/Operators#Operators-ElvisOperator(?:)