Controlling Program Flow

 The objectives of the presentaion are:

 To explain boolean expressions

 To describe controlling program flow using if and

switch statements
 To explain the three Java looping mechanisms

 for

 while

 do while

Java Dr. Ashraf Uddin 1

 Boolean Expressions

 Boolean expressions are those expressions which return

either true or false.

 The return type of a boolean expression is boolean.

 some other programming languages represent the return value of
boolean expressions as integral values.

 Boolean expressions use the relational and equality

operators as well as logical AND and OR.
 >, >=, <, <=
 !=, ==
 &&, ||

 Boolean expressions can be used to control program flow.

Java Dr. Ashraf Uddin 2
 Truth Tables

 Boolean algebra is based on Truth Tables

 For A and B, both A and B must be true for the expression to

evaluate to true.
 For A or B, either A or B can be true and the expression will

evaluate to true.

AND OR
A false true A false true
B B
false false false false false true
true false true true true true

Java Dr. Ashraf Uddin 3

 Truth Tables Cont’d

 Java also has an operator for logical NOT (!).

 Use parentheses to aid readability

if ((x == 5) && !(y > 50))

statement1;

NOT

A
false true
true false

Java Dr. Ashraf Uddin 4

 Expression "Short Circuiting"

 Boolean expressions are "Short Circuited"

 Because of the nature of the truth table for AND, if any of the
operands are false, the whole expression evaluates to false.
 Sub expressions need not be evaluated

 A similar case exists with OR. If any of the operands are

true, the whole expression evaluates to true.

 In this example, if x is not equal to 5 the second expression

(y>50) will not be evaluated because the first operand to &&
is false.

if ((x == 5) && (y > 50))

statement1;

Java Dr. Ashraf Uddin 5

 Tips for Boolean Expressions

 One of the most common mistakes is using the assignment

operator instead of testing equality.
mistake:
if (x = 5) instead of
if (x == 5)
statement1; statement1;

 Although logical AND (&&) has a higher precedence than

logical OR (||), it is a good idea to use parentheses to aid
readability.

if ( ((x == 5) && (y > 50)) || (x>50))

statement1;

Java Dr. Ashraf Uddin 6

 If statements

 The general form is:

if (boolean-expression)
statement1;
else
statement2;

 If the boolean expression evaluates to true, statement1 is

executed. If false, statement2 is executed.
 The else clause is optional.
 If more than one statement is to be executed, the statements
must be grouped in a block.

Java Dr. Ashraf Uddin 7

 If statements using blocks

 When executing multiple statements:

if (boolean-expression)
{
statement1;
statement2;
statement3;
}
else
{
statement4;
statement5;
statement6;
}

 Statement indentation and placement of curly braces should

enhance readability.
Java Dr. Ashraf Uddin 8
 Nested if statements

 If statements can be nested. When doing so, it is

recommended that curly braces and indentation be used to
clearly show the structure of the code.
if (boolean-expression)
{
if (boolean-expression)
{
statement1;
}
else
{
statement2;
}
}
else
{
statement3;
}

Java Dr. Ashraf Uddin 9

 Ternary Operator -- ?:

 The ternary operator is a shortcut for the following code:

if (boolean-expression)
result = value1;
else
result = value2;

general syntax: (boolean-expression)? value1 : value2

 If the boolean expression evaluates true, the whole

expression evaluates to value1. Otherwise, it is value2.
if (x > y)
z = (x > y)? x : y; is equivalent to: z = x;
else
z = y;

Java Dr. Ashraf Uddin 10

 Switch Statement

 Sometimes, using if-else statements can become unruly:

if (x == 1)
statement1;
else if (x == 2)
statement2;
else if (x == 3)
statement3;
else if (x == 4)
statement4;

[ ... ]

 Code structures like this are difficult to read and maintain.

 The switch statement is a better choice.

Java Dr. Ashraf Uddin 11

 Switch Statement Cont’d
 General Syntax:
switch( integer_expression )
{
case constant1:
statement1;
break;
case constant2:
statement2;
break;
case constant3:
statement3;
break;
default:
statement4;
}

 The integer expression is evaluated

 Control passes to the case whose integer constant matches the value of
the expression.
 If there is no match, control passes to the default case. If no default case
is present, control leaves the switch statement.
Java Dr. Ashraf Uddin 12
 Notes on the Switch statement

 The condition is an integer value.

 The case value must be known at compile time. It is good
coding practice to use final variables as case constants.
 The default case is optional.
 The break statement causes execution to leave the
switch statement. If the break statement is not present,
execution will continue to the next statement, even if it is
within another case.

Java Dr. Ashraf Uddin 13

 Loops

 Loops are used to execute statements or blocks multiple

times based on a looping condition.
 Java has three types of loops:
 while loops
 do while loops
 for loops
 Care should be taken whenever a loop is used to avoid an
endless loop.

Java Dr. Ashraf Uddin 14

 while loops

 The while loop is the most basic loop in Java.

while (boolean-expression)
{
statement1;
[...]
}

 The loop body will continue to execute as long as the looping

condition is true. The looping condition is tested upon entry
and when the loop body is completed.
 If the loop body consists of a single statement, the curly
braces are not necessary.
 If the looping condition is false upon entry, the loop body will
not be executed.
Java Dr. Ashraf Uddin 15
 do while loops

 The do-while loop is identical to the while loop except that the
test is evaluated at the end of the loop.
do
{
statement1;
[...]
} while (boolean-expression);

 Because the looping condition is evaluated at the end of the

loop body, the loop body is guaranteed to execute at least
once.

Java Dr. Ashraf Uddin 16

 Loops - Examples

 What will these loops output?

int x = 0; int x = 0;
while(x<10) while(x<10)
{ {
System.out.println(x++); System.out.println(++x);
} }

int x = 0;
do
{
System.out.println(x);
x = x+1;
} while(x<10);

Java Dr. Ashraf Uddin 17

 Loops - Common Errors

 What are the errors in these loops?

endless loop

int x = 0;
while(x<10);
{
System.out.println(x++);
}
endless loop

int x = 0;
do
{
System.out.println(x);
} while(x<10);

Java Dr. Ashraf Uddin 18

 Loop Components

 Each loop has 4 main components

int x = 0; 1. Initialize loop variable

while ( x < 10) 2. Test loop variable

{
statement1; 3. Loop Body
[...]
x = x + 1; 4. Increment loop variable
}

Java Dr. Ashraf Uddin 19

 for loop

 The syntax of the for loop makes the 4 parts of the loop
explicit.

for (i = 0; i < 10; i++)

syntax:
{
statement1;
[...]
}

Java Dr. Ashraf Uddin 20

 Notes about loops

 The test condition on the for loop is the same as the while
loop. The loop body is executed while the condition is true.
 The initialization and increment portions of the for loop
are optional. However, the semicolons must be present.
 If the test condition is omitted, the test is always true.
 for loops are generally used when the number of times the
loop is to be executed is known.
 Do not adjust the looping variable within the loop

 while and do-while loops are used when the number of times
the loop is to be executed is not known.
 The focus is "while" this condition is true.

Java Dr. Ashraf Uddin 21

 break revisited

 We previously see the break statement used in switch

statements.
 break can also be used with loops.

 The break statement will cause the flow of execution to break

out of the current loop.
 If loops are nested, break will cause control to leave the
inner-most loop.
int x = 0;

while ( x < 10)

{
if (y > 100)
break;
[...]
x = x + 1;
}
Java Dr. Ashraf Uddin 22
 continue

 continue is similar to break.

 continue causes execution to go back to the loop test
condition. If the test condition is true, the loop will be
executed again. If not, the loop body is exited.

int x = 0;

while ( x < 10)

{
if (y > 100)
continue;
[...]
x = x + 1;
}

Java Dr. Ashraf Uddin 23

 Notes about break and continue

 Do not overuse break and continue.

 break and continue are structured goto statements.
 The overuse of break and continue usually indicates a poor

design.
 Re-design and re-write is usually the best solution.

 Overuse of if and switch statements generally indicates a

procedural solution.

Java Dr. Ashraf Uddin 24

 Review

 What are boolean expressions?

 How are boolean expressions used to change program flow?
 What is short circuiting? Why is it important?
 What is the general form of an if statement?
 What is the purpose of the switch statement?
 Name the three types of loops in Java
 How are while and do while loops different?
 What do the break and continue statements do?

Java Dr. Ashraf Uddin 25