function f(s) { var a = (s == undefined) ? 'qq' : s; }
Can be rewrited as following code
function f(s)
{
var a = s || 'qq';
}
First statement will evaluate value of s is true or not.
If true, s is assigned to a.
Else, statement will find next value a.k.a. 'qq'.
'qq' will be assigned to a.
For further, you could directly write code like this in ES6.
function f(s = 'qq')
{
}