EXP00-J. Use the same type for the second and third operands in conditional expressions

The conditional operator ? : uses the boolean value of one expression to decide which of the two other expressions should be evaluated, see [JLS Section 15.25, Conditional Operator ? :].

The conditional operator is syntactically right-associative. For instance a?b:c?d:e?f:g is equivalent to a?b:(c?d:(e?f:g)).

Format:

ConditionalExpression:
ConditionalOrExpression
ConditionalOrExpression ? Expression : ConditionalExpression

If the value of the first operand is true, then the second operand expression is chosen
If the value of the first operand is false, then the third operand expression is chosen

The rules that define the resultant type are given in the following table, where the first match, starting from the top, is used. In the table, * refers to constant expressions of type int (such as '0' or variables declared as final):

Operand 2	Operand 3	Resultant type
type T	type T	type T
boolean	Boolean	boolean
Boolean	boolean	boolean
null	reference	reference
reference	null	reference
byte or Byte	short or Short	short
short or Short	byte or Byte	short
byte,short,char	const int*	byte,short,char if value of int representable
const int*	byte,short,char	byte,short,char if value of int representable
Byte	const int*	byte if int is representable as byte
const int*	Byte	byte if int is representable as byte
Short	const int*	short if int is representable as short
const int*	Short	short if int is representable as short
Character	const int*	char if int is representable as char
const int*	Character	char if int is representable as char
other numeric	other numeric	promoted type of the 2nd and 3rd operands
T1 = boxing conversion (S1)	T2 = boxing conversion(S2)	apply capture conversion to lub(T1,T2)

Noncompliant Code Example

This noncompliant example prints A65 instead of AA. The first print statement prints the value of alpha as type char, that is as A since the third operand is a constant expression of type int (0). The second statement, however, prints 65, the integer equivalent of A. This is because of numeric promotion between the second operand (int) and the third (char) resulting from the use of variable i.

public class Expr {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    char alpha = 'A';
    int i = 0;
    System.out.print(true  ? alpha  : 0);
    System.out.print(false ? i : alpha);
  }
}

Compliant Solution

This compliant solution recommends the use of the same types for the second and third operands of the conditional expressions. The clearer semantics helps avoid confusion.

public class Expr {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    char alpha = 'A';
    char i = 0;        //declare as char
    System.out.print(true  ? alpha  : 0);
    System.out.print(false ? i : alpha);
  }
}

Another solution is to declare the offending type as final. As a result, it turns into a constant expression and numeric promotion does not occur.

public class Expr {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    char alpha = 'A';
    final int i = 0;
    System.out.print(true  ? alpha  : 0);
    System.out.print(false ? i : alpha);
  }
}

Risk Assessment

If the types of the second and third operands in a conditional expression are not the same then the result of the conditional expression may be unexpected.

Rule	Severity	Likelihood	Remediation Cost	Priority	Level
EXP00-J	low	unlikely	medium	P2	L3

Automated Detection

TODO

Related Vulnerabilities

Search for vulnerabilities resulting from the violation of this rule on the CERT website.

References

[[JLS 05]] Section 15.25, Conditional Operator ? :
[[Bloch 05]] Puzzle 8: Dos Equis

03. Expressions (EXP) 03. Expressions (EXP) EXP02-J. Do not ignore values returned by methods

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