Mikael Söderström

for those that are interested this operator is named the coalesce operator

I've been checking out JQuery today. It is fantastic! C# In C#, When to use String verses string

Yes this is handy, it shortens the code...but riddle me this...is it more readable?

The answer from here is: No.

Why is readability important?

if (numOne != null)

   return numOne;

if (numTwo != null)

   return numTwo;

Can without much problem be translated into VB, Pascal, C++....or understood.  A language if it branches out too far into its own dialect becomes harder to understand and translate.  

This doesn't add any new useability to the language so then what's the point?  Its just a dialect change.

Hum, how come this can't be found at msdn.com...?

I guess you can find it somewhere, it´s a really good operator.

It's readable if you know what it means. Arabic is readable in Iraq.

With fewer lines of code you have less room for misinterpretation.

Retrun the first !null value VS. a series of if-then-else (nested) plus all the semi-colons.

That is an easy choice for a spartan to make.

Thanks for information :)

This is, indeed, found on MSDN (msdn.microsoft.com/.../ms173224.aspx).  This technique is called the Null Coalescing Operator.  As far as readability is concerned, this is simply a shorthand technique, much like lambda statements.  If you're concerned about programming for those who don't know how to read/write C#, then you're best suited to stick with traditional if/then statements, otherwise, have fun with these shorthand techniques.  Let everyone else google the meaning!

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