conditional operator in c++

The conditional operator in C++ is a ternary operator that allows you to make decisions based on a condition. It is also known as the "ternary operator" because it takes three operands: a condition, a value if the condition is true, and a value if the condition is false.

The syntax of the conditional operator is as follows:

condition ? expression1 : expression2

Here's how the conditional operator works:

  1. The condition is evaluated. It can be any expression that results in a boolean value (true or false).

  2. If the condition is true, the expression1 is evaluated and its value is the result of the entire conditional operator.

  3. If the condition is false, the expression2 is evaluated and its value is the result of the entire conditional operator.

Here's an example to illustrate the usage of the conditional operator:

int x = 10;
int y = 20;

int max = (x > y) ? x : y;

In this example, we have two variables x and y. The expression (x > y) is the condition. If x is greater than y, the value of x is assigned to the variable max. Otherwise, the value of y is assigned to max.

In this case, since x is not greater than y, the value of y (which is 20) is assigned to max. After the execution of this code, the value of max will be 20.

The conditional operator is a concise way to write simple if-else statements. However, it should be used with caution to avoid code that is hard to read and understand.