How does the following statement evaluate?

(*data)*(tmp_left) - as data is a pointer, (*data) dereferences it (gets the value, pointed by data, then the value is multiplied by tmp_left (which, in your case, as you said, is int) The other parts should be clear :) EDIT: you can easily read such things by separating then into different parts return(((*data)*(tmp_left)<(*data)*(tmp_right))?tmp_left:tmp_right); 1. (*data) - get the value, pointed by data 2. tmp_left is an int 3. multiply (*data) and tmp_left (lets say the value is X) 4. (*data) - get the value, pointed by data 5. tmp_right is an int 6. multiply (*data) and tmp_right (lets say the value is Y) 7. now compare X and Y 8. if X &lt Y, return tmp_left, else return tmp_right

(*data) * (tmp_left) is dereferencing the value of the data pointer, and multiplying the resulting value by tmp_left. Overall, if 'd' is the value pointed to by data, this says "if (d * tmp_left) is less than (d * tmp_right), return tmp_left, else return tmp_right".

What does the asterisk '*' between the pointer and a variable signify? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiplication (in this context)

return(((*data)*(tmp_left)<(*data)*(tmp_right))?tmp_left:tmp_right); Lets simplify this, as, int a = (*data); //get the value from the address pointed to be 'data' int x = a * (tmp_left); //multiplication int y = a * (tmp_right); //multiplication //substitute x and y in the original expression, it becomes return ( x < y ? tmp_left : tmp_right ); Now it looks simple and easy to understand, right?

The * before a variable name as in *data is to dereference a pointer. The * between them is for multiplication. This code returns the smallest of tmp_right and tmp_left. It also appears to be functionally identical to: return((tmp_left)<(tmp_right)?tmp_left:tmp_right); I'm not sure what *data refers to, but unless something weird is going on the multiplication doesn't actually have any effect, as x*y < x*z is equivalent to y < z.

When you see a complicated statement like that, trying simplifying it. First, break out the ternary operator and add some whitespace: if(((*data) * (tmp_left) < (*data) * (tmp_right))) { return tmp_left; } else { return tmp_right; } Next factor out *data and remove the redundant parens: data_type& d = *data; if((d * tmp_left < d * tmp_right)) { return tmp_left; } else { return tmp_right; } At this point it should be obvious that the * is multiplication, and exactly what's happening in the function. If *data is always positive then you could factor that term out completely but that's probably not the case.