In c# what does mean “< ? :”? [duplicate]

Answer 1

if a is less than(<) b then(?) return c otherwise(:) return "text"

Basically there is no < ? : operator, you're seeing two separate operators, '<' and the '?:' operator, which is ternary and therefore takes three inputs (in this order):

1) An expression that is a boolean (in this case the < comparison)

2) What to return when 1) is true

3) What to return when 1) is false

Answer 2

It is called a ternary operator^docs. It is short for

var str = "";
if( a < b)
  str = c;
else
  str = "text"
str += " ";
return str;

Answer 3

Its a conditional operator:

condition ? first_expression : second_expression;

In your case condition is a < b and so this translates to

string retVal;
if (a < b)
{
    retVal = c;
}
else
{
    retVal = "text";
}

return retVal + " ";

Answer 4

it is a ternary operator which basically is a short form of "if-then-else"... the above would be:

if (a < b)
{
   return c + " ";
}
else
{
   return "text ";
}

For reference see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ty67wk28%28v=VS.100%29.aspx

Answer 5

The ? : is the conditional operator. If the first argument is true, it evaluates and returns the second argument, otherwise it evaluates and returns the third argument.

Your code is roughly equivalent to this:

if (a < b)
{
    return c + " ";
}
else
{
    return "text" + " ";
}

Answer 6

that means that if a is less than b then return c, otherwise return "text" and then add " " to the end in both cases.

MSDN doc here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ty67wk28(v=VS.100).aspx