Conditional branching statements: if statement, if- else, Nested `if'

if statement

Decision making with if statement

The if statement may be implemented in different forms depending on the complexity of conditions to be tested. The different forms are,

1. Simple if statement
2. If....else statement
3. Nested if....else statement
4. else if statement

---

Simple if statement

The general form of a simple if statement is,

if( expression )
{
 statement inside;
}
 statement outside;

If the expression is true, then 'statement-inside' it will be executed, otherwise 'statement-inside' is skipped and only 'statement-outside' is executed.

Example :

#include <stdio.h>
void main( )
{
 int x,y;
 x=15;
 y=13;
 if (x > y )
 {
  printf("x is greater than y");
 }
}

Output

x is greater than y

---

if...else statement

The general form of a simple if...else statement is,

if( expression )
{
 statement block1;
}
else
{
 statement block2;
}

If the 'expression' is true, the 'statement-block1' is executed, else 'statement-block1' is skipped and 'statement-block2' is executed.

Example :

#include <stdio.h>
void main( )
{
 int x,y;
 x=15;
 y=18;
 if (x > y )
 {
  printf("x is greater than y");
 }
 else
 {
  printf("y is greater than x");
 }
}

Output

y is greater than x

---

Nested if....else statement

The general form of a nested if...else statement is,

if( expression )
{
  if( expression1 )
   {
     statement block1;
   }
  else 
   {
     statement block2;
   }
}
else
{
 statement block3;
}

if 'expression' is false the 'statement-block3' will be executed, otherwise it continues to perform the test for 'expression 1' . If the 'expression 1' is true the 'statement-block1' is executed otherwise 'statement-block2' is executed.

Example :

#include <stdio.h>
#include <conio.h>
void main( )
{
 int a,b,c;
 clrscr();
 printf("enter 3 number");
 scanf("%d%d%d",&a,&b,&c);
 if(a>b)
 {
  if( a > c)
  {
    printf("a is greatest");
  }
  else 
  {
    printf("c is greatest");
  }
 }
 else
 {
  if( b> c)
   {
     printf("b is greatest");
   }
  else
   {
     printf("c is greatest");
   }
  }
getch();
} 

---

else-if ladder

The general form of else-if ladder is,

if(expression1)
{
 statement block1;
}
else if(expression2) 
{
 statement block2;
}
else if(expression3 ) 
{
 statement block3;
}
else 
 default statement;

The expression is tested from the top(of the ladder) downwards. As soon as the true condition is found, the statement associated with it is executed.

Example :

#include <stdio.h>
#include <conio.h>
void main( )
{
 int a;
 printf("enter a number");
 scanf("%d",&a);
 if( a%5==0 && a%8==0)
 {
  printf("divisible by both 5 and 8");
 }  
 else if( a%8==0 )
 {
  printf("divisible by 8");
 }
 else if(a%5==0)
 {
  printf("divisible by 5");
 }
 else 
 {
  printf("divisible by none");
 }
getch();
}

---

Points to Remember

1. In if statement, a single statement can be included without enclosing it into curly braces { }

   int a = 5;
   if(a > 4)
     printf("success");
   

   No curly braces are required in the above case, but if we have more than one statement inside if condition, then we must enclose them inside curly braces.
2. == must be used for comparison in the expression of if condition, if you use = the expression will always return true, because it performs assignment not comparison.
3. Other than 0(zero), all other values are considered as true.

   if(27)
    printf("hello");
   

   In above example, hello will be printed.