Control Statements In Java : Introduction

• Control statements in java are used to alter or change the sequence of program based on some conditions.
• These control statements in java are the basics and are present in every high level programming or scripting language and also used heavily to alter the sequence of program.
• Major portion of programs/code written in java have a high density of control statements within them because of their functionality. Different control statements can be used according to different logic or situations or requirements.
• There are four major control statements in java namely:
  • The If Statement.
  • The If-Else Statement.
  • The If-Else-If Statement/Ladder.
  • The Switch Statement.

Control Statements In Java : The Discussion

1. If Statement

   • If control statements in java is used to test a condition and it checks for Boolean true or false. In case the condition is true, “If” block is executed.
   
   Syntax

   if(condition) {             //statements; }

   
   Example
   If Statement : Example
   
   If Statement : Output



2. If-Else Statement

   • If-else control statements in java is also used to test the conditions. But, in case the condition matches, “If” block statements are executed otherwise “else” block statements are executed.
   
   Syntax

   if(condition) {             statements; //if condition is true } else {             statements; //if condition is false }

   
   Example
   If-Else Statement : Example
   
   If-Else Statement : Output
   

3. If-ElseIf-Else Ladder Statement

   • This is an interesting one. If-elseif-else ladder control statements in java is used to test multiple conditions each having its own block of statements to be executed.
   
   Syntax

   if(1st condition) {           // statements; } else if(2nd condition) {            // statements; } .. .. .. else {             //statements; }

   
   Example
   If-Else-If Statement : Example
   
   If-Else-If Statement : Output
   

4. Switch Statement

   • Switch is a block which is used to match a variable against a set of cases.
   • If a case matches the statements corresponding to the case executes.
   
   Syntax

   switch(variable) {             case label1:                         //statements;             case label2:                         //statements;             ..             ..             ..             default:                         //statement to be executed if no case are matched; }

    

Control Statements In Java : If-else and Switch Difference

• Switch statement is a fall-through while if-else is not.
• Fall-through means that in switch if one case matches the all other cases following the matched case gets executed. There is no such thing in if-else .
• To prevent fall-through we put break keyword after every case.

Syntax with Break Keyword

switch(variable) {             case label1:                         //statement;             break;             case label2:                         //statement;             break;             ..             ..             default:                         //statement to be executed if no case matched; }

Example
Switch Statement : Example

Switch Statement : Output