Question

I am trying to understand what is happening in this variable assignment.

num = forward.Data.Key >= key ? 1 : 0;

In particular this part >= key ? 1 : 0

To help out forward is a LinkedListCell<KeyValuePair<int, double>> forward = _data.Next;

key is an int parameter being passed into the method.

Also it is a program written in C#

Answer 1

That’s the ternary operator. It takes a boolean expression, and returns one of two values depending on the result of that expression. You get it in a number of languages.

It’s equivalent to:

if( forward.Data.Key >= key ) {
    num = 1;
}
else {
    num = 0;
}