> return( a > b ? a : b ) ; > looks a lot more readable to me than > return a > b ? a : b ; Personally, I prefer to use parentheses to avoid ambiguity: return (a > b) ? a : b; Or better: if (a>b) return a; else return b; But that's another issue. -- _--_|\ `-_-' Peter da Silva. +1 713 274 5180. <peter at ficc.uu.net>. / \ 'U` \_.--._/ v