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Conditional Statements In Java

In this article, we will discuss about conditional statement in Java.

What Are Conditional Statements?

Conditional statements are for taking actions based on conditions. For example

If there is no client call in the evening (Condition) I will go for movie (Action).
If you want to play games (Condition) then we will go to gaming zone (Action) otherwise we will go home (Action if condition is not met).
If air tickets are cheap (Condition) then I will go by flight (Action) or if train tickets are available (Condition) then I will go by train (Action) else I will hire a cab (Action if both the Conditions are not met).

In the similar way every programming language has conditional statements to execute certain code block based on the conditions.

Types Of Conditional Statements In Java

Java supports four types of conditional statements

If statement – executes some code if certain condition is true.
If..else statement – Execute some code if condition is true or execute some other code if condition is false.
If..elseif..else statement – Executes some code based on which condition is true.
Switch statement – Similar to if..elseif..else statement switch statement executes some code based on which condition is true. There is a difference between if..else and switch statement which will be covered in last section.

If Statement

Syntax –

if (condition) {
    code to be executed
    if condition is true;
}

Consider the following code

Boolean is_client_call = true;

if (is_client_call == true) {
    System.out.println("I will go for movie");
}

Here the output will be – ‘I will go for movie’ because the value of is_client_call is True.

If..Else Statement

Syntax—

if (condition) {
    code to be executed
    if condition is true;
} else {
    code to be executed
    if condition is false;
}

Consider the following code

Boolean wish_to_play_game = true;
if (wish_to_play_game == true) {
    System.out.println("Go to gaming zone");
} else {
    System.out.println("Go Home");
}

In the code above the output will be ‘Go to gaming zone’ because the value of wish_to_play_game is True

If..Elseif..Else Statement

Syntax—

if (condition) {
    code to be executed
    if condition is true;
}
elseif(condition) {
    code to be executed
    if condition is true;
} else {
    code to be executed
    if condition is false;
}

Consider the following code

Boolean cheap_air_tickets = false;
Boolean train_tickets_available = true;

if (cheap_air_tickets == true) {
    System.out.println("Go by flight");
} else if (train_tickets_available == true) {
    System.out.println("Go by train");
} else {
    System.out.println("Hire a cab");
}

Here the output will be ‘Go by train’.

Switch Statement

Syntax—

switch (n) {
    case label1:
        code to be executed
        if n = label1;
        break;
    case label2:
        code to be executed
        if n = label2;
        break;
    case label3:
        code to be executed
        if n = label3;
        break;
        ...
    default:
        code to be executed
        if n is different from all labels;
}

Consider the following program

String mode = "FLIGHT";
switch (mode) {
    case "FLIGHT":
        System.out.println("I will go by flight");
        break;
    case "CAB":
        System.out.println("I will go by Cab");
        break;
    default:
        System.out.println("I will go by Train");
}

Here the output will be ‘I will go by Train’

Difference Between If..Else And Switch Statement

There is a difference between the switch statement and if..else statement.

In case of switch statement we cannot apply logical operators like less than, greater then etc.
Switch statement can only contains constant values.
Switch statement is quicker in execution as compared to if..else.

Posted By -	Karan Gupta

Posted On -	Sunday, September 18, 2016

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