Lecture-05 Conditional Statements

Conditional Statements in C programming is used to make decisions based on the conditions.

Conditional statements execute sequentially when there is no condition around the statements. If
you put some condition for a block of statements, the execution flow may change based on the
result evaluated by the condition. This process is called decision making in 'C'.

In 'C' programming conditional statements are possible with the help of the following two
constructs:
1. If statement
2. If-else statement
It is also called as branching as a program decides which statement to execute based on the result
of the evaluated condition.

If statement
It is one of the powerful conditional statement. If statement is responsible for modifying the flow
of execution of a program. If statement is always used with a condition. The condition is
evaluated first before executing any statement inside the body of If. The syntax for if statement is
as follows:
if (condition)
instruction;

The condition evaluates to either true or false. True is always a non-zero value, and false is a
value that contains zero. Instructions can be a single instruction or a code block enclosed by
curly braces { }.

Following program illustrates the use of if construct in 'C' programming:

#include<stdio.h>
int main()
{
int num1=1;
int num2=2;
if(num1<num2) //test-condition
{
printf("num1 is smaller than num2");
}
return 0;
}
Output: num1 is smaller than num2
 Description of the Program

1. In the above program, we have initialized two variables with num1, num2 with
value as 1, 2 respectively.
2. Then, we have used if with a test-expression to check which number is the
smallest and which number is the largest. We have used a relational
expression in if construct. Since the value of num1 is smaller than num2, the
condition will evaluate to true.
3. Thus it will print the statement inside the block of If. After that, the control will
go outside of the block and program will be terminated with a successful
result.

The If-Else statement

If the value of test-expression is true, then the true block of statements will be executed. If the
value of test-expression if false, then the false block of statements will be executed. In any case,
after the execution, the control will be automatically transferred to the statements appearing
outside the block of If.

if (test-expression)
{
True block of statements
}
Else
{
False block of statements
}
Statements;

Examples
#include<stdio.h>
int main()
{
int num=19;
if(num<10)
{
printf("The value is less than 10");
}
else
{
printf("The value is greater than 10");
}
return 0; }
Output: The value is greater than 10

1. We have initialized a variable with value 19. We have to find out whether the number is
bigger or smaller than 10 using a 'C' program. To do this, we have used the if-else
construct.
2. Here we have provided a condition num<10 because we have to compare our value with
10.
3. As you can see the first block is always a true block which means, if the value of test-
expression is true then the first block which is If, will be executed.
4. The second block is an else block. This block contains the statements which will be
executed if the value of the test-expression becomes false. In our program, the value of
num is greater than ten hence the test-condition becomes false and else block is executed.
Thus, our output will be from an else block which is "The value is greater than 10". After
the if-else, the program will terminate with a successful result.

Nested If-else Statements

When a series of decision is required, nested if-else is used. Nesting means using
one if-else construct within another one.

#include<stdio.h>
int main()
{
int num=1;
if(num<10)
{
if(num==1)
{
printf("The value is:%d\n",num);
}
else
{
printf("The value is greater than 1");
}
}
else
{
printf("The value is greater than 10");
}
return 0;
}

Output:The value is:1

Description:

1. Firstly, we have declared a variable num with value as 1. Then we have used if-else
construct.
2. In the outer if-else, the condition provided checks if a number is less than 10. If the
condition is true then and only then it will execute the inner loop. In this case, the
condition is true hence the inner block is processed.
3. In the inner block, we again have a condition that checks if our variable contains the
value 1 or not. When a condition is true, then it will process the If block otherwise it will
process an else block. In this case, the condition is true hence the If a block is executed
and the value is printed on the output screen.
4. The above program will print the value of a variable and exit with success.

Nested Else-if statements

This type of structure is known as the else-if ladder. This chain generally looks like a ladder
hence it is also called as an else-if ladder. The test-expressions are evaluated from top to bottom.
Whenever a true test-expression if found, statement associated with it is executed. When all the n
test-expressions becomes false, then the default else statement is executed.

#include<stdio.h>
int main()
{
int marks=83;
if(marks>75){
printf("First class");
}
else if(marks>65){
printf("Second class");
}
else if(marks>55){
printf("Third class");
}
else{
printf("Fourth class");
}
return 0;
}

Output: First class

Description:

1. We have initialized a variable with marks. In the else-if ladder structure, we

have provided various conditions.
2. The value from the variable marks will be compared with the first condition
since it is true the statement associated with it will be printed on the output
screen.
3. If the first test condition turns out false, then it is compared with the second
condition.
4. This process will go on until the all expression is evaluated otherwise control
will go out of the else-if ladder, and default statement will be printed.