Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!eos!ptolemy!raymond
From: raymond@ptolemy.arc.nasa.gov (Eric A. Raymond)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: When is a statement an expression?
Message-ID: <1127@ptolemy.arc.nasa.gov>
Date: 27 Apr 89 07:58:15 GMT
References: <1043@itivax.iti.org>
Reply-To: raymond@ptolemy.arc.nasa.gov (Eric A. Raymond)
Organization: NASA Ames Research Center
Lines: 26

In article <1043@itivax.iti.org> scs@vax3.iti.org (Steve Simmons) writes:
>

>	a = if ( a == 1 )
>		12 ;
>	else
>		14 ;


Sorry, but C is not LISP.  That is, compund (or complex) statements do
not return values.

You can accomplish this behavior via the ?: connstruct:

      a = (a ? 12 : 14);

Incidently, I beleive the comma operator allows you to approach a
progn (or is it prog1?):

      a = (x=1, y=2, z=3);	

A is 3 if the last expr is returned (progn-like), otherwise 1
(prog1-like).  Look it up.
-- 
Eric A. Raymond  (raymond@ptolemy.arc.nasa.gov)
G7 C7 G7 G#7 G7 G+13 C7 GM7 Am7 Bm7 Bd7 Am7 C7 Do13 G7 C7 G7 D+13: Elmore James