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Conditional Statements Ternary Operators - Abdul Rehman

The ternary operator in C++ can replace simple if-else statements and evaluates a condition to execute one of two expressions. It takes the form condition ? expression1 : expression2. If the condition is true, expression1 is executed, otherwise expression2 is executed. Ternary operators can also be nested to evaluate multiple conditions in a single line of code, though this reduces readability. The ternary operator provides a shorthand for simple conditional logic.

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19 views6 pages

Conditional Statements Ternary Operators - Abdul Rehman

The ternary operator in C++ can replace simple if-else statements and evaluates a condition to execute one of two expressions. It takes the form condition ? expression1 : expression2. If the condition is true, expression1 is executed, otherwise expression2 is executed. Ternary operators can also be nested to evaluate multiple conditions in a single line of code, though this reduces readability. The ternary operator provides a shorthand for simple conditional logic.

Uploaded by

abdulrrehman10
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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C++ Ternary Operator

In C++, the ternary operator (also known as the conditional operator) can be used to replace if...else (/cpp-
programming/if-else) in certain scenarios.

Ternary Operator in C++


A ternary operator evaluates the test condition and executes a block of code based on the result of the
condition.

Its syntax is

condition ? expression1 : expression2;

Here, condition is evaluated and

if condition is true , expression1 is executed.

And, if condition is false , expression2 is executed.

The ternary operator takes 3 operands ( condition , expression1 and expression2 ). Hence, the name ternary
operator.
Example : C++ Ternary Operator

#include <iostream>
#include <string>
using namespace std;

int main() {
double marks;

// take input from users


cout << "Enter your marks: ";
cin >> marks;

// ternary operator checks if


// marks is greater than 40
string result = (marks >= 40) ? "passed" : "failed";

cout << "You " << result << " the exam.";

return 0;
}

Run Code (/cpp-programming/online-compiler)

Output 1

Enter your marks: 80


You passed the exam.

Suppose the user enters 80. Then, the condition marks >= 40 evaluates to true . Hence, the first expression
"passed" is assigned to result .
Output 2

Enter your marks: 39.5


You failed the exam.

Now, suppose the user enters 39.5. Then, the condition marks >= 40 evaluates to false . Hence, the second
expression "failed" is assigned to result .

When to use a Ternary Operator?


In C++, the ternary operator can be used to replace certain types of if...else statements.

For example, we can replace this code

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main() {
// Create a variable
int number = -4;

if (number > 0)
cout << "Positive Number";
else
cout << "Negative Number!";

return 0;
}

Run Code (/cpp-programming/online-compiler)


with

#include <iostream>
#include <string>
using namespace std;

int main() {
int number = -4;
string result;

// Using ternary operator


result = (number > 0) ? "Positive Number!" : "Negative Number!";

cout << result << endl;

return 0;
}

Run Code (/cpp-programming/online-compiler)

Output

Negative Number!

Here, both programs give the same output. However, the use of the ternary operator makes our code more
readable and clean.

Note: We should only use the ternary operator if the resulting statement is short.
Nested Ternary Operators
It is also possible to use one ternary operator inside another ternary operator. It is called the nested ternary
operator in C++.

Here's a program to find whether a number is positive, negative, or zero using the nested ternary operator.

#include <iostream>
#include <string>
using namespace std;

int main() {
int number = 0;
string result;

// nested ternary operator to find whether


// number is positive, negative, or zero
result = (number == 0) ? "Zero" : ((number > 0) ? "Positive" : "Negative");

cout << "Number is " << result;

return 0;
}

Run Code (/cpp-programming/online-compiler)

Output

Number is Zero

In the above example, notice the use of ternary operators,


(number == 0) ? "Zero" : ((number > 0) ? "Positive" : "Negative");

Here,

(number == 0) is the first test condition that checks if number is 0 or not. If it is, then it assigns the string
value "Zero" to result .

Else, the second test condition (number > 0) is evaluated if the first condition is false .

Note: It is not recommended to use nested ternary operators. This is because it makes our code more
complex.

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