63 lines
2.2 KiB
Markdown
63 lines
2.2 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: Conditional Operator
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---
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## Conditional Operator
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Conditional operator is a ternary operator, that is it needs 3 operands.
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It returns one of two values depending on the result of an expression
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Conditional operator is used to replace a simple if-else statements.
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Syntax :
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```cpp
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(condition)?(expression-1):(expression-2);
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```
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Here, expression-1 is evaluated when condition is true and expression-2 is evaluated when condtion is false.
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Similar if-else statement would be :
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```cpp
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if(condition)
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{
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expression-1;
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}
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else
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{
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expression-2;
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}
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```
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As an aside, if the expression under the conditional statement is only 1 line, curly braces are not necessary. However, it is recommended to use them to get in the habit.
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The above code however can be used to check more than just two conditions in the following way/syntax:
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```cpp
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if(condition 1) /* Checks first condition, skips else-if and else
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{ entirely if condition 1 checks out */
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expression-1;
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}
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else if(condition 2) /*Checks condition 2, only and only if condition 1
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{ is false, if condition 2 is true the comiler will
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expression-2; skip the 'else' part and move on */
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}
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else /*Once if and else-if conditions don't satisfy the
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{ compiler will run the expression in else{..}
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expression-3; because it does not have a condition to check,
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} part of code can also be skipped if not necessary*/
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```
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Hence conditional operator is very handy when you need to write simple if-else statement. It can also be used in #define
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preprocessor when similar condition is to be used in multiple places.
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For example, to find maximum of two number conditional operator can be used as follows :
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```cpp
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#define big(a,b) (a>=b)?a:b
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int maximum,x=5,y=6; // variable to store maximum of two numbers
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maximum=(x>y)?x:y; // directly using conditional operator
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maximum=big(x,y); // using the #define preprocessor defined above as big
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```
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**Good Luck to all of you**
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**Happy Coding ! :)**
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**Feel free to ask any queries on FreeCodeCamp's GitHub page or [FreeCodeCamp's Forum .](https://forum.freecodecamp.org/)**
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