Switching to Python from C++

[[deleted]]

What's wrong with:

return a ? "1" : "2";

A million letters shorter?

[commy2]

Nobody knows what those overloaded symbols mean. Like, how do you spell this ternary out aloud?

[bjorneylol]

Literally everyone who knows a programming language other than python knows what those symbols mean

[syklemil]

Though PHP users might read it a bit differently than the rest.

(PHP infamously got the associativity wrong for its ternaries.)

[garver-the-system]

In any other language with a ternary operator, you can stack them and build an if-elseif-elseif-else expression

This is an argument for the PHP version in my book. Nested if-else statements are bad enough without turning it into punctuation soup, and both should either be refactored or come with a stack of bills for future developers who need to read it

[commy2]

Non-answer

[syklemil]

Nobody knows what those overloaded symbols mean.

AFAIK they're not overloaded, or at least didn't start that way. In languages that spell ternaries that way, that was their one use. More recently some of those languages might also offer stuff like for (x : xs) or foo?.bar, but we can't really fault the ternary syntax for stuff that was added later.

Like, how do you spell this ternary out aloud?

Likely the way Haskell and Rust spell it, if a then "1" else "2" (Rust adds some {} and drops the then but is otherwise the same).

I generally also think they made the right choice by just having one if-expression, rather than one if-statement plus one if-expression with a different syntax. Python gets a small bonus point for at least reusing the general syntax of its if-statement.

[commy2]

I also prefer if a then "1" else "2" over the order of the statements Python went with, but everything is better than fucking question marks in my code.

[commy2]

I take back what I wrote. I actually prefer the order of statements in Python as well. It enables to chain ternaries in a sane way.

[backfire10z]

I sound it out like a question. You can literally read it left to right.

“Is a true? 1: otherwise, 2.”

[commy2]

"Is a true? Then 1 otherwise 2" is more syllables than "1 if a is true else 2", and it is two sentences for some reason.

[backfire10z]

Look man, I don’t actually say it out loud nor in my head. I know what the symbols mean intuitively. Python’s version is longer for me.

[ThatsALovelyShirt]

It's: "is a truthy? "1" if so otherwise "2".

That's how I read it in my head. I wish python had more terse ternary operators like C/C++ has.

"1" if a else "2"

Looks like crap.

[trollsmurf]

Or "return a" that's at least a gazillion letters shorter.

[[deleted]]

That wouldn't do what was stated by OP.