Are multiple conditional operators in this situation a good idea?

Question

I just saw this block of code on the Wikipedia article on conditional operators:

Vehicle new_vehicle = arg == 'B' ? bus      :
                      arg == 'A' ? airplane :
                      arg == 'T' ? train    :
                      arg == 'C' ? car      :
                      arg == 'H' ? horse    :
                      feet;

I've changed the code a little, but the idea is the same. Would you find this use of the conditional operator acceptable? It's much more concise than the if-else construct, and using a switch would definitely open up a whole new set of opportunities for bugs (fall-throughs anyone?). Also, if-elses and switch can't be used as R-values, so you'd have to create the variable first, initialize it and then assign as necessary.

I for one really like this, but I'm wondering what others think.

But the formatting is essential.

EDIT: I still like this. But I understand those who say "the switch statement was made for this". OK, maybe so. But what if the conditions are function calls that return bool? Or a million other things you can't switch on.

Are you switch lovers really trying to convince me that a huge if-else chain is better? Yes, programmers who don't know how to use the conditional operator will not understand this. They should learn how to use it. It's not arcane.

Answer 1

I have used this type of construction many times. As long as it's formatted nicely (i.e. not all on one line, making it unreadable), I don't see a problem with it.

Answer 2

I would use a switch, because this is the kind of thing it was designed for. Yes, there is a risk of fall-through bugs, but this nested-conditional block has a much higher risk of being misunderstood by other programmers.