How is the ternary operator used in the C language?

The ternary operator in the C programming language is a special operator, also known as the conditional operator. Its syntax form is as follows:

表达式1 ? 表达式2 : 表达式3

In this case, expression 1 is a conditional expression. If its value is true (non-zero), then the value of the entire ternary expression is the value of expression 2; otherwise, it is the value of expression 3.

The ternary operator functions by selecting different values based on the truth or falsehood of a condition. It can incorporate simple conditional statements within an expression and can replace some basic if-else statements.

For example, the following code uses a ternary operator to compare two numbers and assign the larger number to the variable max.

int a = 10;
int b = 20;
int max = (a > b) ? a : b;

In the above code, if a is greater than b, the value of max is set to a (which is 10), otherwise the value of max is set to b (which is 20).

It is important to note that the ternary operator is right-associative, meaning that the value of expression 3 after the last colon is calculated first. Additionally, the ternary operator should only be used for simple conditional statements, and is not suitable for complex condition logic. If more complex conditional statements are needed, it is recommended to use if-else statements.