I like using it when I'm filling an array with an indeterminate number of elements. I've used this pattern a few times:
foo foos[255];
int ct = 0;
if (<condition for adding first element>)
foos[ct++] = foo1;
if (<condition for adding second element>)
foos[ct++] = foo2;
...
for (int i = 0; i < ct; i++) {
/* do something with foos[i] */
}
IMHO, this is more concise and readable than separating the increment and assignment into two lines.
would count as three lines for purposes of that rule, and the
i++
as one. I could have been more precise, but I thought it would be understood.
The point is, to be on the safe side, don't use ++/-- in any line (in the sense of ;{}-delimited statement) that is also doing something else.
>Don't forget that =, += , ... can all be abused in the same way.
I didn't, and people should use the same safeguards around them, i.e. don't mix them within lines that do other things, "cleverness" or "C golf" be damned.
The ++ operator should be deprecated except when it's the only operation on that line.