Question

I have the following C++ code:

if(x==y||m==n){
cout<<"Your message"<<endl;
}

If x is equal to y or m is equal to n, the program prints “Your message”. But if both conditions are true,the program tests only one of them and eventually prints one “Your Message”.

Is there a way to print each "Your message" independently based on each condition using a single if statement?

The output would be identical to the below using multiple if statements.

if(x==y){
cout<<"Your message"<<endl;
}

if (m==n){
cout<<"Your message"<<endl;
}

Answer 1

Not that I’d ever do it this way, but …

for(int i = 0; i < (x==y)+(m==n); ++i) {
  std::cout << "Your message\n";
}

---

Let me expand on this. I’d never do it this way because it violates two principles:

1) Code for maintainability. This loop is going to cause the maintainer to stop, think, and try to recover your original intent. A pair of if statements won’t.

2) Distinct input should produce distinct output. This principle benefits the user and the programmer. Few things are more frustrating than running a test, getting valid output, and still not knowing which path the program took.

Given these two principles, here is how I would actually code it:

if(x==y) {
  std::cout << "Your x-y message\n";
}
if(m==n) {
  std::cout << "Your m-n message\n";
}

^{Aside: Never use endl when you mean \n. They produce semantically identical code, but endl can accidentally make your program go slower.}