Perhaps it's because I come from a functional programming background, but I find your re-written version using the ternary operator is much easier to understand

Perhaps it's because I come from a functional programming background, but I find your re-written version using the ternary operator is much easier to understand, and prettier to boot. Well done! This is a great example of "factoring out" that satisfies both the computer science and the mathematical definitions of the term. The assignment "sides[i] = " is repeated inside the if block, and it can be "factored out" using the ternary operator, just like in math: (a * x + a * y + a * z) = a * (x + y + z) I'm even tempted to say that "assignment distributes over if", but that might be pushing the analogy too far. Any further and I might start thinking about monads, so I'll stop here.