Re: getFirstDayOfMonth()

Michael S <already5chosen@yahoo.com> writes:

On Mon, 4 Mar 2024 21:21:25 -0000 (UTC)
Lew Pitcher <lew.pitcher@digitalfreehold.ca> wrote:

[...]

If you want to /guarantee/ that the return value of strcmp()
is -1, 0, or +1 (for "less than", "equal to", or "greater than")
you will have to process the return value with something like
>
  /*
  ** Returns -1 if argument < 0, 0 if argument == 0, 1 if argument > 0
  */
  int iSignOf(int valu)
  {
    return ((valu > 0) - (valu < 0));
  }

>
Too tricky to my liking.
I'd rather write straight-forward code and let compiler to figure
out the best sequence.
>
int iSignOf(int val)
{
  if (val < 0)
    return -1;
  if (val > 0)
    return +1;
   return 0;
}

I've seen the idiomatic form before, and my reaction to it is
more of it being overly cute than overly tricky.  That said,
it is a bit on the tricky side;  even so, I'm not sure the cure
suggested is much better than the disease.  I would simply write
a single return statement:

    return  val < 0 ? -1  :  val > 0 ? 1  : 0;

(possibly condensed to take advantage of the 0/1 result of the
"greater than" operator for non-negative operands).

I suppose some people prefer the multiple return form to the ?:
form, although I'm not sure why except perhaps as a carryover
from earlier experience.