?: ?? Operators Instead Of IF|ELSE

Question

public string Source {     get     {         /*         if ( Source == null ){             return string . Empty;         } else {             return Source;         }         */         return Source ?? string.Empty;     }     set     {         /*         if ( Source == null ) {             Source = string . Empty;         } else {             if ( Source == value ) {                 Source = Source;             } else {                 Source = value;             }         }         */         Source == value ? Source : value ?? string.Empty;         RaisePropertyChanged ( "Source" );     } } 

Can I use ?: ?? operators EXACTLY as If/Else?

---

My Question :
How to write the following with ?: ?? operators

[ 1 ]

if ( Source == null ){     // Return Nothing } else {     return Source; } 

[ 2 ]

if ( Source == value ){     // Do Nothing } else {     Source = value;     RaisePropertyChanged ( "Source" ); }  

Briefly : How to do nothing, return nothing and do multiple instructions with ?: ?? operator?

Answer 1

For [1], you can't: these operators are made to return a value, not perform operations.

The expression

a ? b : c 

evaluates to b if a is true and evaluates to c if a is false.

The expression

b ?? c 

evaluates to b if b is not null and evaluates to c if b is null.

If you write

return a ? b : c; 

or

return b ?? c; 

they will always return something.

For [2], you can write a function that returns the right value that performs your "multiple operations", but that's probably worse than just using if/else.

Answer 2

The ternary operator (?:) is not designed for control flow, it's only designed for conditional assignment. If you need to control the flow of your program, use a control structure, such as if/else.