Conditionals in C++
In computer programming, we use the if...else
statement to run one block of code under certain conditions and another block of code under different conditions.
For example, assigning grades (A, B, C)
based on marks obtained by a student.
- if the percentage is above 90, assign grade A
- if the percentage is above 75, assign grade B
- if the percentage is above 65, assign grade C
There are three forms of if...else
statements in C++.
if
statementif...else
statementif...else if...else
statement
C++ if Statement
The syntax of if
statement is:
if (condition) {
/* body of if statement
*
* The code we want the computer to execute
* when this condition is true is written here
*/
}
The if
statement evaluates the condition
inside the parentheses ( )
then:
- If the
condition
evaluated istrue
, the code inside the body ofif
is executed. - If the
condition
evaluated isfalse
, the code inside the body ofif
is skipped.
Note: The code inside
{ }
is the body of theif
statement.
Example: If Statement :
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main() {
int number;
cout << "Enter an integer: ";
cin >> number;
// checks if the number is positive
if (number > 0) {
cout << "You entered a positive integer: " << number << endl;
}
cout << "This statement is always executed.";
}
Output 1:
Enter an integer: 5
You entered a positive number: 5
This statement is always executed.
Output 2:
Enter a number: -5
This statement is always executed.
C++ if...else Statement
The if
statement can have an optional else
clause. Its syntax is:
if (condition) {
// block of code if condition is true
}
else {
// block of code if condition is false
}
The if..else
statement evaluates the condition inside the parenthesis.
Example: C++ if...else Statement
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main() {
int number;
cout << "Enter an integer: ";
cin >> number;
if (number >= 0) {
cout << "You entered a positive integer: " << number << endl;
}
else {
cout << "You entered a negative integer: " << number << endl;
}
cout << "This line is always printed.";
}
Output 1:
Enter an integer: 5
You entered a positive number: 5
This statement is always executed.
Output 2:
Enter an integer: -4
You entered a negative integer: -4.
This line is always printed.
If the condition
evaluates true
,
- the code inside the body of
if
is executed - the code inside the body of
else
is skipped from execution
If the condition
evaluates false
,
the code inside the body of else
is executed
the code inside the body of if
is skipped from execution
C++ if...else if...else statement
The if...else
statement is used to execute a block of code among two alternatives. However, if we need to make a choice between more than two alternatives, we use the if...else if...else
statement.
The syntax of the if...else if...else
statement is:
if (condition1) {
// code block 1
}
else if (condition2){
// code block 2
}
else {
// code block 3
}
Here,
- If
condition1
evaluates totrue
, thecode block 1
is executed. - If
condition1
evaluates to false, thencondition2
is evaluated. - If
condition2
is true, the codeblock 2
is executed. - If
condition2
isfalse
, the codeblock 3
is executed.
Note: There can be more than one
else if
statement but only oneif
andelse
statement
Example: C++ if...else...else if
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main() {
int number;
cout << "Enter an integer: ";
cin >> number;
if (number > 0) {
cout << "You entered a positive integer: " << number << endl;
}
else if (number < 0) {
cout << "You entered a negative integer: " << number << endl;
}
else {
cout << "You entered 0." << endl;
}
cout << "This line is always printed.";
}
Nested If...else
Sometimes, we need to use an if
statement inside another if
statement. This is known as nested if
statement.
Think of it as multiple layers of if
statements. There is a first, outer if
statement, and inside it is another, inner if
statement. Its syntax is:
// outer if statement
if (condition1) {
// statements
// inner if statement
if (condition2) {
// statements
}
}
Notes:
- We can add
else
andelse if
statements to the innerif
statement as required- The inner
if
statement can also be inserted inside the outerelse
orelse if
statements (if they exist).- We can nest multiple layers of
if
statements.
Example Nested if
// C++ program to find if an integer is positive, negative or zero
// using nested if statements
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main() {
int num;
cout << "Enter an integer: ";
cin >> num;
// outer if condition
if (num != 0) {
// inner if condition
if (num > 0) {
cout << "The number is positive." << endl;
}
// inner else condition
else {
cout << "The number is negative." << endl;
}
}
// outer else condition
else {
cout << "The number is 0 and it is neither positive nor negative." << endl;
}
cout << "This line is always printed." << endl;
return 0;
}
Output 1
Enter an integer: 35
The number is positive.
This line is always printed.
Output 2
Enter an integer: -35
The number is negative.
This line is always printed.
Output 3
Enter an integer: 0
The number is 0 and it is neither positive nor negative.
This line is always printed.
In the above example,
- We take an integer as an input from the user and store it in the variable
num
. - We then use an
if...else
statement to check whether num is not equal to 0.- if
true
, then the innerif...else
statement is executed. - if
false
, we print that the number is negative.
- if
Note: As you can see, nested
if...else
makes your logic complicated. I possible, you should always try to avoid nestedif..else
Body of if...else with only one Statement
If the body of if...else
has only one statement, you can omit { }
in the program. For example, you can replace
int number = 5;
if (number > 0) {
cout << "The number is positive." << endl;
}
else {
cout << "The number is negative." << endl;
}
with
int number = 5;
if (number > 0)
cout << "The number is positive." << endl;
else
cout << "The number is negative." << endl;
The ouput of both the programs will be the same
Note: Although it's not necessary to use
{ }
if the body of if...else has only one statement, using{ }
makes your code more readable.