Question

[This question is related to but not the same as this one.]

If I try to use values of certain types as boolean expressions, I get a warning. Rather than suppress the warning, I sometimes use the ternary operator (?:) to convert to a bool. Using two not operators (!!) seems to do the same thing.

Here’s what I mean:

typedef long T;       // similar warning with void * or double T t = 0; bool b = t;           // performance warning: forcing 'long' value to 'bool' b = t ? true : false; // ok b = !!t;              // any different? 

So, does the double-not technique really do the same thing? Is it any more or less safe than the ternary technique? Is this technique equally safe with non-integral types (e.g., with void * or double for T)?

I’m not asking if !!t is good style. I am asking if it is semantically different than t ? true : false.

Answer 1

The argument of the ! operator and the first argument of the ternary operator are both implicitly converted to bool, so !! and ?: are IMO silly redundant decorations of the cast. I vote for

b = (t != 0); 

No implicit conversions.