return int_length(len > 0 ? len : 1) what is the meaning of the syntax in the brackets, I keep getting confused when reading this code. thanks
- Ternary operator: ternary wiki - a very condensed if-else.wkl– wkl2013-06-21 14:18:43 +00:00Commented Jun 21, 2013 at 14:18
- 4why the serial downvoting?Daniel A. White– Daniel A. White2013-06-21 14:19:57 +00:00Commented Jun 21, 2013 at 14:19
- 3@Daniel, apparently somebody's thinking that answering a duplicate deserves downvotes. (Hint: it usually does not.)Frédéric Hamidi– Frédéric Hamidi2013-06-21 14:20:38 +00:00Commented Jun 21, 2013 at 14:20
- 1@DanielDaranas i was. i guess its some regex.Daniel A. White– Daniel A. White2013-06-21 14:22:12 +00:00Commented Jun 21, 2013 at 14:22
- 1I'm not the downvoter, but the correct term is "conditional operator". See stackoverflow.com/questions/3257229/… :)Daniel Daranas– Daniel Daranas2013-06-21 14:22:25 +00:00Commented Jun 21, 2013 at 14:22
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4 Answers
It is a ternary operator. If len>0 is true result of the expression is len else its 1.
if(len > 0) it will return int_length(len);
else it will return int_length(1);
Comments
That's the ternary operator.
It's equivalent to
if (len>0) return int_length(len); else return int_length(1); 
3 Comments
Captain Skyhawk
Why the -1 on this? Upvoting.
Yami
why -1 on all correct answers? wtf..
James Kanze
Because they're not strictly speaking correct. In this case, the answer gives something equivalent to the complete statement; the poster asked about the actual expression that was an argument to
int_length. (Not that I think that's an valid reason to downvote, but it's the only criticism I can think of.)it means
if(len > 0) { return int_length(len); } else { return int_length(1); } 
1 Comment
James Kanze
Except that it's an order of magnitude more readable.
That is the ternary conditional operator. Its an "inline if".
It basically is this
int temp; if (len > 0) { temp = len; } else { temp = 1; } int_length(temp); 