Please explain me the output output of following ternary/conditional operations

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I encountered a question on a website where the output of the code was to be guessed:

C

#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
    int a=3,b=3,c=3;
    a>b? a>c?printf("a"):a==c?printf("a c"):printf("c"):
    b>c?printf("b"):b==c?printf("b c"):
    b==a?printf("a b"):printf("b");

    return 0;
}

What I have tried:

By checking each individual condition of the ternary I was unable to point out the output, when I tried to run the code on console, this is what i got:

b c

Totally unaware of how the output is generated, can anyone please explain me the output.
Thanks a lot.

Posted 21-Nov-20 21:43pm

Siddhant Arya

Updated 21-Nov-20 22:57pm

v2

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3 solutions

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Richard MacCutchan · Accepted Answer · 2020-11-21T22:57:00

C++

int a=3,b=3,c=3;
a>b? a>c?printf("a"):a==c?printf("a c"):printf("c"):
b>c?printf("b"):b==c?printf("b c"):
b==a?printf("a b"):printf("b");

The equivalent code is:

C++

int a=3,b=3,c=3;
if (a > b)
{
    if (a > c)
        printf("a");
    else
    {
        if (a == c)
            printf("a c");
        else
            printf("c");
}
else
{
    if (b > c)
        printf("b");
    else
    {
        if (b == c)
            printf("b c");
        else
        {
            if (b == a)
                printf("a b");
            else
                printf("b");
        }
    }
}

Rick York · Accepted Answer · 2020-11-21T22:52:00

Solution 1

The format of the ternary operator is

C++

condition ? true_statement : false_statement;

which means when condition is true the true_statement is executed and when it is false the false_statement is executed.

It will probably help to rewrite the expression so you can see the true and false statements of each subexpression :

C++

a > b
? a > c
  ? printf("a")
  : a == c
    ? printf("a c")
    : printf("c")
: b > c
  ? printf("b")
  : b == c
    ? printf("b c")
    : b == a
      ? printf("a b")
      : printf("b");

Posted 21-Nov-20 22:52pm

Rick York

Updated 21-Nov-20 23:16pm

v2

Comments

Siddhant Arya 22-Nov-20 4:54am

I am aware of the syntax, but unable to trace how I am getting the above output. It would be helpful if you can explain😊😊

Rick York 22-Nov-20 5:17am

please see revised solution.

Siddhant Arya 22-Nov-20 5:25am

Got it, thanks a lot

Patrice T · Accepted Answer · 2020-11-21T22:57:00

Quote:
By checking each individual condition of the ternary I was unable to point out the output

The code is specially crafted to make its structure difficult or impossible to figure out.
You need to rewrite and reformat the code.
The rewriting is not exactly C for syntax reasons.

Example on last line:
b==a?printf("a b"):printf("b");

- Write an "if" before each condition
- replace each "?" with a "then"
- replace each ":" with a "else"
if b==a then printf("a b") else printf("b");

- make new line everywhere needed
if b==a then
 printf("a b") 
else 
printf("b");

- indent the code
if b==a then
    printf("a b")
else
    printf("b");

- clear syntax as you need

Please explain me the output output of following ternary/conditional operations

3 solutions

Solution 3

Solution 1

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