It kind of seems like an abstract if statement, where
?checks for truth and:is else... is that so?
Yeah, almost. It's called the "conditional operator" (sometimes not entirely accurately referred to as "the ternary operator", since it's the only ternary operator in C). It's not a statement though, it's an expression, it has a value. It evaluates to its second argument if the first argument evaluates to true, and to its third argument if it's false. Therefore
sign = (s[i] == '-') ? -1 : 1;
is equivalent to
if (s[i] == '-') {
sign = -1;
} else {
sign = 1;
}
Unstop
unstop.com › home › blog › ternary (conditional) operator in c (+code examples)
Ternary (Conditional) Operator In C (+Code Examples)
December 26, 2023 - The ternary operator in C language, also known as the conditional operator, is denoted by the question mark and colon symbols, i.e., (? :). It is a powerful operator that provides a shorthand way of expressing conditional assignment statements, ...
Top answer 1 of 5
24
It kind of seems like an abstract if statement, where
?checks for truth and:is else... is that so?
Yeah, almost. It's called the "conditional operator" (sometimes not entirely accurately referred to as "the ternary operator", since it's the only ternary operator in C). It's not a statement though, it's an expression, it has a value. It evaluates to its second argument if the first argument evaluates to true, and to its third argument if it's false. Therefore
sign = (s[i] == '-') ? -1 : 1;
is equivalent to
if (s[i] == '-') {
sign = -1;
} else {
sign = 1;
}
2 of 5
18
It kind of seems like an abstract if statement.
That's correct. This is called a "ternary conditional operator".
The normal if works on statements, while the conditional operator works on expressions.
I am wondering if there is a particular reason it seems to often be replaced by a formal if/else--besides, perhaps, readability?
There are cases where branching on statements is not enough, and you need to work on the expression level.
For instance, consider initialization:
const int foo = bar ? 5 : 3;
This could not be written using a normal if/else.
Anyway, people who are saying it's equivalent to the if/else are being imprecise. While the generated assembly is usually the same, they are not equivalent and it should not be seen as a shorthand version of if. Simply put, use if whenever possible, and only use the conditional operator when you need to branch on expressions.
Question mark (?) as conditional operator
It's called a ternary operator, but no, Elixir doesn't have one. You can do this, though: if true, do: x, else: y All do blocks can be written this way, since it's just a keyword list at the end of the day. More on reddit.com
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March 30, 2022What is a Question Mark “?” and Colon “:” Operator Used for?
a = booleanValue ? 0 : 1; means basically if (booleanValue) { a = 0; } else { a = 1; } it is just shorter and can be used inside more complex expressions More on reddit.com
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June 8, 2016Question mark in Boolean statement, Whats it actually doing? (Novice)
It doesn't do anything in this case. They could just have said: bothEven = ((n1 % 2 == 0) && (n2 % 2 == 0)) I cringe the same way when someone writes: if (b == true) It's ridiculous. Just say: if (b) More on reddit.com
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June 11, 2018Why am I getting these strange question marks in my output?
Boxed question mark sounds like it's printing out undisplayable characters, likely something the terminal thinks is unicode. So you are likely pointing to garbage and printing it. ch2 is what is printing as ? right? More on reddit.com
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October 3, 2018Videos
Quora
quora.com › What-does-the-question-mark-mean-in-C
What does the question mark mean in C? - Quora
Answer (1 of 7): The ‘?’ is used in ternary operator. Example: (x > y) ? x : y It can be also written as: if(x > y) { printf(“%d”,x); } else { printf(“%d”,y); } Both example are the same but the ternary operator is used for simplicity ...
Mathbits
mathbits.com › MathBits › CompSci › looping › operator2.htm
Conditional Operator for C++
Conditional Operator · You can exchange simple if-else code for a single operator the conditional operator. The conditional operator is the only C++ ternary operator (working on three values). Other operators you have seen are called binary operators (working on two values)
University of Washington
courses.washington.edu › css342 › zander › css332 › datatypes.html
C/C++ data types, basic operators, and control structures
char s[] = "hello"; Basic operators The basic operators are the same as in Java, e.g., +, -, *, /, %, ++, --, etc. The question mark operator, ?:, is also found in C++. Some people call it the ternary operator because it is the only operator in C++ (and Java) that takes three operands.
Naukri
naukri.com › code360 › library › conditional-operator-in-c
Conditional Operator in C - Naukri Code 360
Almost there... just a few more seconds
PCMAG
pcmag.com › home › encyclopedia › q
Definition of question mark | PCMag
In C programming, the question mark is used as a conditional symbol. For example, in the expression x1 ?
Silvrback
tim.silvrback.com › c-question-mark-operators
Tim Leffelman - C# Question Mark Alias and Operators
December 10, 2015 - In the case of y, it would then check e. But, in the case of z, it would return null (because c is null) without consideration for e. Basically, if you find yourself trying mix too many different question mark operators, or trying to do something other then one of the following things with the ??, then you're probably doing something wrong:
Reddit
reddit.com › r/elixir › question mark (?) as conditional operator
r/elixir on Reddit: Question mark (?) as conditional operator
March 30, 2022 -
A traditional if-else construct in C, Java and JavaScript is written:
if (a > b) { result = x; } else { result = y; } This can be rewritten as the following statement:
result = a > b ? x : y;
Can the ? operator be used this way in Elixir? I don't find anything and all the conditional statements include do-end which looks so bothersome and it's hard to believe Elixir might not support such a quick and clean way.
Top answer 1 of 5
34
It's called a ternary operator, but no, Elixir doesn't have one. You can do this, though: if true, do: x, else: y All do blocks can be written this way, since it's just a keyword list at the end of the day.
2 of 5
8
Fun fact, the name for that “?” thing is the “ternary operator” and no, Elixir does not have one. Maybe you could make one as a macro, but… You may find that you can use pattern matching and multiple function heads to achieve a similar goal in a more elixir-idiomatic way. Dave Thomas’s Elixir for Programmers course presents an interesting idea to eliminate all if statements completely, and use pattern matching in small private helper functions instead. I personally didn’t end up adopting that style myself to that extreme level, but it was cool and eye opening to see how he did it.
Cppreference
en.cppreference.com › w › cpp › language › operator_other.html
Other operators - cppreference.com
March 5, 2025 - The value category of a function call expression is lvalue if the function returns an lvalue reference or an rvalue reference to function, is an xvalue if the function returns an rvalue reference to object, and is a prvalue otherwise. If the function call expression is a prvalue of object type, it must have complete type except when used as the operand of decltype (or as the right operand of a built-in comma operator that is the operand of decltype)(since C++11).
freeCodeCamp
freecodecamp.org › news › how-the-question-mark-works-in-javascript
How the Question Mark (?) Operator Works in JavaScript
February 3, 2021 - By Nishant Kumar The conditional or question mark operator, represented by a ?, is one of the most powerful features in JavaScript. The ? operator is used in conditional statements, and when paired with a :, can function as a compact alternative ...
Programiz
programiz.com › c-programming › ternary-operator
C Ternary Operator (With Examples)
Become a certified C programmer. Try Programiz PRO! ... We use the ternary operator in C to run one code when the condition is true and another code when the condition is false.
GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › c language › conditional-or-ternary-operator-in-c
Conditional or Ternary Operator (?:) in C - GeeksforGeeks
July 12, 2025 - Since the Conditional Operator '?:' takes three operands to work, hence they are also called ternary operators.
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Ternary_conditional_operator
Ternary conditional operator - Wikipedia
January 27, 2026 - Typical syntax for an expression using the operator is like if a then b else c or a ? b : c. One can read it aloud as "if a then b otherwise c". The form a ? b : c is the most common, but alternative syntax exists. For example, Raku uses the syntax a ?? b !! c to avoid confusion with the infix ...
W3Schools
w3schools.com › c › c_conditions_short_hand.php
C Short Hand If ... Else (Ternary Operator)
C Examples C Real-Life Examples C Exercises C Quiz C Code Challenges C Compiler C Syllabus C Study Plan C Interview Q&A C Certificate ... There is also a short-hand if...else, known as the ternary operator because it uses three operands.
GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › c language › operators-in-c
Operators in C - GeeksforGeeks
Interview Questions · Examples · Quizzes · Projects · Cheatsheet · File Handling · Multithreading · Memory Layout · DSA in C · C++ Last Updated : 1 Nov, 2025 · Operators are the basic components of C programming. They are symbols that represent some kind of operation, such as mathematical, relational, bitwise, conditional, or logical computations, which are to be performed on values or variables.
Published November 1, 2025
Hero Vired
herovired.com › learning-hub › topics › ternary-operator-in-c
Ternary Operators in C : Examples and Syntax - Hero Vired
January 21, 2025 - Explore ternary & conditional operators in C with examples, syntax, and a C program to find the largest of three numbers, advantages, disadvantages, and differences.
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Regular_expression
Regular expression - Wikipedia
1 week ago - matches the entire line (because the entire line begins and ends with a double-quote) instead of matching only the first part, "Ganymede,". The aforementioned quantifiers may, however, be made lazy or minimal or reluctant, matching as few characters as possible, by appending a question mark: ".+?" matches only "Ganymede,".
BYJUS
byjus.com › gate › ternary-operator-in-c
Ternary Operator in C
August 1, 2022 - Always remember that the value_if_false and value_if_true arguments need to be of the same type. Also, they must not be full statements. Rather, they should be very simple expressions. Just like the if-else statements, the ternary operator can be ...