Punuptech

? and : are called conditional operator. It is  also called ternary operator as it takes three operands.
We have 2 syntax for these operator.

1. z= (condition) ? ( expression 1) : ( expression 2);
2. (condition) ? z = expression 1 : (x = expression 2);

z is the variable which will hold the result after condition and expressions evaluated.

*In the absence of parenthesis in syntax 2 ,error will be reported.*

Example

a>b ?  g=a :  g=b ; incorrect syntax

a>b ? g=a : (g=b) ; correct syntax

Example

x = (y< 20) ? 9: 10;

This means if y is less than 20 then x=9 else x=10.

• It is not necessary  that the conditional operator should be used only in arithmetic statements.

Example

int i;

scanf(”%d”,&i);

(i== 1? printf(”hello): printf(”hi”));

• The conditional operator can be nested.

Example

z = (a>b ? (a>c ? 3: 4): ( b>c ? 6 : 8));

written by Shweta