Optimize ternary operator

Question

I came across this code written by someone else. Is this usage of the conditional operator recommended or commonly used? I feel it is less maintainable - or is it just me? Is th

Answer 1

This is terrible code.

While it is often desirable to initialize a variable with a single expression (for example, so we can make it const), this is no excuse to write code like this. You can move the complex logic into a function and call it to initialize the variable.

void
example(const int a, const int b)
{
  const auto mything = make_my_thing(a, b);
}

In C++11 and later, you can also use a lambda to initialize a variable.

void
example(const int a, const int b)
{
  const auto mything = [a, b](){
      if (a == b)
        return MyThing {"equal"};
      else if (a < b)
        return MyThing {"less"};
      else if (a > b)
        return MyThing {"greater"};
      else
        throw MyException {"How is this even possible?"};
  }();
}