Conditionally assign a value without using conditional and arithmetic operators

Given 4 integers a, b, y, and x, where x can only either 0 and 1 only. The ask is as follows:

If 'x' is 0, 
   Assign value 'a' to variable 'y' 
Else (If 'x' is 1)
   Assign value 'b' to variable 'y'.

Note: – You are not allowed to use any conditional operator (including ternary operator) or any arithmetic operator ( +, -, *, /).

Examples :

Input :  a = 5 , b = 10, x = 1
Output :  y = 10

Input : a = 5, b = 10 , x = 0
Output :  y = 5

Asked in : Google Interview

Recommended: Please try your approach on {IDE} first, before moving on to the solution.

An Idea is to simply store both 'a' and  'b' 
in an array  at 0th and 1th index respectively.
Then store value to 'y' by taking 'x' as index.

Below is implementation

C/C++

// C/C++ program  to assign value to y according 
// to value of x 
  
#include<iostream> 
using namespace std; 
  
// Function to assign value to y according 
// to value of x 
int assignValue(int a, int b, int x) 
{ 
    int y; 
    int arr[2]; 
  
    // Store both values in an array 
    // value 'a' at 0th index 
    arr[0] = a; 
  
    // Value 'b' at 1th index 
    arr[1] = b; 
  
    // Assign value to 'y' taking 'x' as index 
    y = arr[x]; 
  
    return y; 
} 
  
// Driver code 
int main() 
{ 
    int a = 5; 
    int b = 10; 
    int x = 0; 
  
    cout << "Value assigned to 'y' is "
         << assignValue(a, b, x); 
    return 0; 
} 

Java

// Java program  to assign value to y according 
// to value of x 
  
public class GFG  
{ 
    static int assignValue(int a, int b, int x) 
    { 
        int y; 
        int arr[] = new int[2]; 
       
        // Store both values in an array 
        // value 'a' at 0th index 
        arr[0] = a; 
       
        // Value 'b' at 1th index 
        arr[1] = b; 
       
        // Assign value to 'y' taking 'x' as index 
        y = arr[x]; 
       
        return y; 
    } 
      
    // Driver Method 
    public static void main(String[] args) 
    { 
         int a = 5; 
         int b = 10; 
         int x = 0; 
           
         System.out.println("Value assigned to 'y' is " + 
                             assignValue(a, b, x)); 
    } 
} 

/div>

Python 3

# Python 3 program to assign value to  
# y according to value of x 
  
# Function to assign value to y  
# according to value of x 
def assignValue(a, b, x): 
  
    arr = [0] * 2
  
    # Store both values in an array 
    # value 'a' at 0th index 
    arr[0] = a 
  
    # Value 'b' at 1th index 
    arr[1] = b 
  
    # Assign value to 'y' taking 'x'  
    # as index 
    y = arr[x] 
  
    return y 
  
# Driver code 
if __name__ == "__main__": 
  
    a = 5
    b = 10
    x = 0
  
    print("Value assigned to 'y' is", 
                assignValue(a, b, x)) 
  
# This code is contributed by ita_c 

C#

// C# program to assign value to y according 
// to value of x 
using System; 
  
public class GFG { 
      
    static int assignValue(int a, int b, int x) 
    { 
        int y; 
        int []arr = new int[2]; 
      
        // Store both values in an array 
        // value 'a' at 0th index 
        arr[0] = a; 
      
        // Value 'b' at 1th index 
        arr[1] = b; 
      
        // Assign value to 'y' taking 'x'  
        // as index 
        y = arr[x]; 
      
        return y; 
    } 
      
    // Driver Method 
    public static void Main() 
    { 
        int a = 5; 
        int b = 10; 
        int x = 0; 
          
        Console.Write("Value assigned to "
        + "'y' is " + assignValue(a, b, x)); 
    } 
} 
  
// This code is contributed by nitin mittal. 

PHP

<?php 
// PHP program to assign value  
// to y according to value of x 
  
// Function to assign value  
// to y according to value of x 
function assignValue($a, $b, $x) 
{ 
    $y; 
    $arr = array(0, 0); 
  
    // Store both values in an array 
    // value 'a' at 0th index 
    $arr[0] = $a; 
  
    // Value 'b' at 1th index 
    $arr[1] = $b; 
  
    // Assign value to 'y'  
    // taking 'x' as index 
    $y = $arr[$x]; 
  
    return $y; 
} 
  
// Driver code 
$a = 5; 
$b = 10; 
$x = 0; 
  
echo "Value assigned to 'y' is " . 
          assignValue($a, $b, $x); 
  
// This code is contributed by Anuj_67 
?> 

Output :

Value assigned to 'y' is 5

Reference : https://www.careercup.com/question?id=5135296679116800

Please write comments if you find anything incorrect, or you want to share more information about the topic discussed above.

Conditionally assign a value without using conditional and arithmetic operators

Recommended: Please try your approach on {IDE} first, before moving on to the solution.

C/C++

Java

Python 3

C#

PHP

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