Which coding style you use for ternary operator? [closed]

Answer 1

I tend not to use the ternary operator at all as I find if .. else much more readable.

Answer 2

ternary operators are short effective ways to write simple if statements. They shouldn't be nested or difficult to read. Remember: You write the software once but is is read 100 times. It should be easier to read than write.

Answer 3

I don't use it. It always smelled to me like trying to save space and typing in source code with the expectation that small source == more efficient compiled code.

I don't find it readable at all, but much of that is because I just never use it.

Answer 4

The ternary conditional can make code cleaner and more elegant, and most importantly, help you put emphasis on the right things and avoid repeating yourself. Consider using them, but do not make the code less readable by doing so. In VB.NET:

'before refactoring 
If x = 0 Then                    ' If-Then-Else puts emphasis on flow control
    label = "None"
Else
    label = Foo.getLabel(x)      '  If-Then-Else forces repeat of assignment line
End If

'after refactoring    
label = If(x = 0, "None", Foo.getLabel(x)) ' ternary If puts emphasis on assignment

Note that "it is less readable" is not the same thing as "I'm not used to seeing that".

Answer 5

Imran, you have formatted this beautifully. However, the ternary operator does tend to get unreadable as you nest more than two. an if-else block may give you an extra level of comprehensible nesting. Beyond that, use a function or table-driven programming.

Answer 6

I tend to enclose the condition in parentheses : (a == b) ? 1 : 0