C Ternary operator

The ternary operator in C, also known as the conditional operator (?:), provides a shorthand way to perform conditional assignments or expressions. It is an alternative to if-else statements and is primarily used to simplify code by reducing the number of lines required for simple condition-based decisions.

Syntax

condition ? expression_if_true : expression_if_false;

• condition: A boolean expression that evaluates to either true or false.
• expression_if_true: The value or operation executed if the condition is true.
• expression_if_false: The value or operation executed if the condition is false.

Example

In this example, the ternary operator is used to determine the maximum of two numbers by evaluating whether a is greater than b:

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
  int a = 10, b = 20;
  int max;
  max = (a > b) ? a : b;
  printf("The maximum value is: %d\n", max);
  return 0;
}

Copy to clipboard
Copy to clipboard

The code above produces the following output:

The maximum value is: 20

Copy to clipboard
Copy to clipboard