C Programs

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Decision Making Programs in C

Find greatest among four numbers (ternary operators)

Introduction

The ternary operator ?: allows us to write simple conditional statements in one line.
It works as:

(condition) ? (true_value) : (false_value);

We can chain multiple ternary operators to compare multiple numbers efficiently.

C Program: Find greatest among four numbers (ternary operators)

#include <stdio.h>
 
int main() {
    int a, b, c, d, greatest;
 
    // Input four numbers
    printf("Enter four numbers: ");
    scanf("%d %d %d %d", &a, &b, &c, &d);
 
    // Find the greatest using ternary operators
    greatest = (a > b && a > c && a > d) ? a :
               (b > c && b > d) ? b :
               (c > d) ? c : d;
 
    // Output
    printf("%d is the greatest number.\n", greatest);
 
    return 0;
}
    

 
OUTPUT 1 :
Enter four numbers: 15 20 9 7
20 is the greatest number.

OUTPUT 2 :
Enter four numbers: 50 120 80 300
300 is the greatest number.

OUTPUT 3 :
Enter four numbers: 77 22 11 5
77 is the greatest number.

Explanation

1. User enters four numbers: a, b, c, d.
2. Ternary operators are evaluated in order:
   • If a is greater than b, c, and d → a is greatest.
   • Else if b is greater than c and d → b is greatest.
   • Else if c is greater than d → c is greatest.
   • Else → d is greatest.
3. The result is stored in greatest and printed.