3.7: Conditional Expression — Read

From LibreTexts, under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, as the source states it; its equations are written in TeX, which the PDF shows typeset. This page at LibreTexts.

A conditional expression is a special type of selection statements.

Structure (syntax) of a conditional expression:

(relational statement)? x : y

Logic of this conditional expression:

If the relational statement is true, select the statement x, otherwise, select the statement y.

Example

cout << (x > y ? x : y) << endl;

Above C++ statement will check the truth value of the relational statement x > y. If it is true, then execute the code cout<<x<<endl; If it is false, then execute the code cout<<y<<endl;

Example

t = (x > y ? x : y);

Above C++ statement will check the truth value of the relational statement x > y. If it is true, then execute the code t=x; If it is false, then execute the code t=y;

Example

cout << (x%2==0 ? "x is even" : "x is odd");

Above C++ statement will check the truth value of the relational statement x%2==0. If it is true, then execute the code cout<<"x is even"<<endl; If it is false, then execute the code cout<<x is odd<<endl;

Example

score =score +(score<=60? 10 : 5);

Above C++ statement will check the truth value of the relational statement score<=60. If it is true, then execute the code score=score+10; If it is false, then execute the code score=score+5;

This page titled 3.7: Conditional Expression was last modified on Wed, 24 Dec 2025 20:37:21 GMT and is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Jin He.

Contents

Text