What is the Purpose of the '?' Character (Ternary Operator) in C ?

Demystifying the Question Mark Character in C

In C , the question mark character (?) is a crucial component of the conditional operator, also known as the ternary operator. This operator allows programmers to concisely evaluate conditions and return different values based on the result.

What Does "?" Do in C ?

The conditional operator follows the syntax:

condition ? result_if_true : result_if_false

When this operator is used, if the condition evaluates to True, it evaluates to the first result (result_if_true). Otherwise, it evaluates to the second result (result_if_false).

For example, in the snippet you provided:

int qempty()
{
    return (f == r ? 1 : 0);
}

The conditional operator is being used to evaluate the condition (f == r), where f and r are integers. If the condition is true, the function returns 1. Otherwise, it returns 0.

Alternative Representation

The conditional operator provides syntactic sugar, making it easier to write concise code. It can be replaced with an if-else statement, as shown below:

int qempty()
{ 
  if(f == r)
  {
      return 1;
  } 
  else 
  {
      return 0;
  }
}

Ternary Operator

Some developers refer to the conditional operator as the "ternary operator" because it is the only operator in C that takes three arguments: the condition, the first result, and the second result.

Understanding the conditional operator enhances your C programming skills by allowing you to write more succinct and efficient code.

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