[c++] Easiest way to flip a boolean value?

I just want to flip a boolean based on what it already is. If it's true - make it false. If it's false - make it true.

Here is my code excerpt:

switch(wParam) {

case VK_F11:
  if (flipVal == true) {
     flipVal = false;
  } else {
    flipVal = true;
  }
break;

case VK_F12:
  if (otherVal == true) {
     otherValVal = false;
  } else {
    otherVal = true;
  }
break;

default:
break;
}

Just because my favorite odd ball way to toggle a bool is not listed...

bool x = true;
x = x == false;

works too. :)

(yes the x = !x; is clearer and easier to read)

I prefer John T's solution, but if you want to go all code-golfy, your statement logically reduces to this:

//if key is down, toggle the boolean, else leave it alone.
flipVal = ((wParam==VK_F11) && !flipVal) || (!(wParam==VK_F11) && flipVal);
if(wParam==VK_F11) Break;

//if key is down, toggle the boolean, else leave it alone.
otherVal = ((wParam==VK_F12) && !otherVal) || (!(wParam==VK_F12) && otherVal);
if(wParam==VK_F12) Break;

Clearly you need a flexible solution that can support types masquerading as boolean. The following allows for that:

template<typename T>    bool Flip(const T& t);

You can then specialize this for different types that might pretend to be boolean. For example:

template<>  bool Flip<bool>(const bool& b)  { return !b; }
template<>  bool Flip<int>(const int& i)    { return !(i == 0); }

An example of using this construct:

if(Flip(false))  { printf("flipped false\n"); }
if(!Flip(true))  { printf("flipped true\n"); }

if(Flip(0))  { printf("flipped 0\n"); }
if(!Flip(1)) { printf("flipped 1\n"); }

No, I'm not serious.

Just because I like to question code. I propose that you can also make use of the ternary by doing something like this:

Example:

bool flipValue = false;
bool bShouldFlip = true;
flipValue = bShouldFlip ? !flipValue : flipValue;

This seems to be a free-for-all ... Heh. Here's another varation, which I guess is more in the category "clever" than something I'd recommend for production code:

flipVal ^= (wParam == VK_F11);
otherVal ^= (wParam == VK_F12);

I guess it's advantages are:

• Very terse
• Does not require branching

And a just as obvious disadvantage is

• Very terse

This is close to @korona's solution using ?: but taken one (small) step further.

For integers with values of 0 and 1 you can try:

value = abs(value - 1);

MWE in C:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
int main()
{
        printf("Hello, World!\n");
        int value = 0;
        int i;
        for (i=0; i<10; i++)
        {
                value = abs(value -1);
                printf("%d\n", value);
        }
        return 0;
}

Just for information - if instead of an integer your required field is a single bit within a larger type, use the 'xor' operator instead:

int flags;

int flag_a = 0x01;
int flag_b = 0x02;
int flag_c = 0x04;

/* I want to flip 'flag_b' without touching 'flag_a' or 'flag_c' */
flags ^= flag_b;

/* I want to set 'flag_b' */
flags |= flag_b;

/* I want to clear (or 'reset') 'flag_b' */
flags &= ~flag_b;

/* I want to test 'flag_b' */
bool b_is_set = (flags & flag_b) != 0;

The codegolf'ish solution would be more like:

flipVal = (wParam == VK_F11) ? !flipVal : flipVal;
otherVal = (wParam == VK_F12) ? !otherVal : otherVal;

Easiest solution that I found:

x ^= true;

Clearly you need a factory pattern!

KeyFactory keyFactory = new KeyFactory();
KeyObj keyObj = keyFactory.getKeyObj(wParam);
keyObj.doStuff();


class VK_F11 extends KeyObj {
   boolean val;
   public void doStuff() {
      val = !val;
   }
}

class VK_F12 extends KeyObj {
   boolean val;
   public void doStuff() {
      val = !val;
   }
}

class KeyFactory {
   public KeyObj getKeyObj(int param) {
      switch(param) {
         case VK_F11:
            return new VK_F11();
         case VK_F12:
            return new VK_F12();
      }
      throw new KeyNotFoundException("Key " + param + " was not found!");
   }
}

:D

</sarcasm>

If you know the values are 0 or 1, you could do flipval ^= 1.

flipVal ^= 1;

same goes for

otherVal