andprintf

andprintf is an informal term used to describe a programming pattern or small utility that combines a boolean condition with a printf-style side effect. It is not part of any standard library or language specification, but appears in tutorials, code snippets, and discussions to illustrate short-circuit evaluation and conditional output. The core idea is that a message is printed only when a given condition is true, often to avoid writing explicit if statements.

In languages like C, the same effect can be achieved with the logical AND operator and a printf call, as in (cond) && printf("message\n"); Here, printf is executed only if cond evaluates to true due to short-circuit semantics. The term andprintf is typically used to refer to a small utility, macro, or wrapper that encapsulates this pattern in a single, reusable construct.

Common implementations include simple macro wrappers such as:

#define andprintf(cond, ...) do { if (cond) printf(__VA_ARGS__); } while (0)

Or a variant using the conditional operator:

#define andprintf(cond, fmt, ...) ((cond) ? printf(fmt, __VA_ARGS__) : 0)

Usage notes: andprintf can improve brevity in examples or micro-utilities but can hurt readability or portability if overused. It relies on language features like short-circuit evaluation and variadic macros, and may not be suitable for all codebases. In many cases, an explicit if statement is clearer and safer.

See also: short-circuit evaluation, printf, macro.