Difference between revisions of "Ternary operator"

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The '''ternary operator''' <code>?:</code> in C++ is the only operator that takes three operands and works similar to an if statement.  It must be used carefully, and can lead to obfuscated code.
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The '''ternary operator''' <code>?:</code> in C++ is the only operator that takes three operands and works similar to an <code>if</code> statement.  It must be used carefully, and can lead to obfuscated code.
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<code> a ? b : c </code> is equivalent to <code>if (a) b else c</code>.
  
 
<source lang="cpp">
 
<source lang="cpp">

Latest revision as of 18:39, 23 January 2018

The ternary operator ?: in C++ is the only operator that takes three operands and works similar to an if statement. It must be used carefully, and can lead to obfuscated code.

a ? b : c is equivalent to if (a) b else c.

int kids;

cin >> kids;

// using if statement
cout << "You have " << kids << " child";
if (kids != 1)
     cout << "ren";
cout << endl;

// using ternary operator
cout << "You have " << kids << " child" << ((kids != 1) ? "ren" : "") << endl;

The above code uses the ternary operator to accurately output 0 children, 1 child, 2 children, 3 children, etc.