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From: Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: Sort of trivial code challenge - may be interesting to you anyway
Date: Sun, 08 Mar 2026 13:27:23 -0700
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DFS <nospam@dfs.com> writes:
[...]
> Nested ternaries like this:
>
>   c = square ? a1  :  !hwc ? h*w  :  a3 > h*w ? h*w  :  a3;
>
> are harder to decipher at first glance than 3 or 4 levels of indented
> if-then-elses.

A nested ternary can be readable if you format it carefully,
particularly if implements something similar to a linear if/else chain.
I might write the above at:

c = square ? a1 :
    !hwc ? h*w :
    a3 > h*w ? h*w :
    a3;

or even:

c = square   ? a1  :
    !hwc     ? h*w :
    a3 > h*w ? h*w :
               a3;

(The second and third conditions could be combined with "||".)

It could be rewritten as an if/else chain like this:

if      (square)   c = a1;
else if (!hwc)     c = h*w;
else if (a3 > h*w) c = h*w;
else               c = a3;

> But all the decision-making in one short line is a thing of beauty.

For certain values of "beauty".

[...]

-- 
Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keith) Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com
void Void(void) { Void(); } /* The recursive call of the void */