How do I use the conditional (ternary) operator?

Question

I've always wondered how to write the "A ? B : C" syntax in a C++ compatible language.

I think it works something like: (Pseudo code)

If A > B    C = A Else    C = B 

Will any veteran C++ programmer please help me out?

Answer 1

It works like this:

(condition) ? true-clause : false-clause 

It's most commonly used in assignment operations, although it has other uses as well. The ternary operator ? is a way of shortening an if-else clause, and is also called an immediate-if statement in other languages (IIf(condition,true-clause,false-clause) in VB, for example).

For example:

bool Three = SOME_VALUE; int x = Three ? 3 : 0; 

is the same as

bool Three = SOME_VALUE; int x; if (Three)     x = 3; else     x = 0; 

Answer 2

It works like this:

expression ? trueValue : falseValue 

Which basically means that if expression evaluates to true, trueValue will be returned or executed, and falseValue will be returned or evaluated if not.

Remember that trueValue and falseValue will only be evaluated and executed if the expression is true or false, respectively. This behavior is called short circuiting.