Fundamentals of programming

Chapter 3
Control Statements
Decision Making

Decision making structures require that the programmer specify one or more conditions to be
evaluated or tested by the program, along with a statement or statements to be executed if the
condition is determined to be true, and optionally, other statements to be executed if the
condition is determined to be false.

Following is the general form of a typical decision-making structure found in most of the
programming languages −

C++ programming language provides following types of decision making statements.

Statements Description

An ‘if’ statement consists of a boolean expression followed by

if statement
one or more statements.

if...else statement An ‘if’ statement can be followed by an optional ‘else’ statement,

which executes when the boolean expression is false.

switch statement A ‘switch’ statement allows a variable to be tested for equality

against a list of values.

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nested if statements You can use one ‘if’ or ‘else if’ statement inside another ‘if’ or
‘else if’ statement(s).

nested switch You can use one ‘switch’ statement inside another ‘switch’
statements
statement(s).

1. If Statement

An if statement consists of a boolean expression followed by one or more statements.

Syntax
The syntax of an if statement in C++ is:
if(boolean_expression)
{
// statement(s) will execute if the boolean expression is true
}
If the boolean expression evaluates to true, then the block of code inside the if statement will be
executed. If boolean expression evaluates to false, then the first set of code after the end of the if
statement (after the closing curly brace) will be executed.

Flow Diagram

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2. If else Statement
An if statement can be followed by an optional else statement, which executes when the boolean
expression is false.
Syntax
The syntax of an if...else statement in C++ is:
if(boolean_expression)
{
// statement(s) will execute if the boolean expression is true
}else
{
// statement(s) will execute if the boolean expression is false
}
If the boolean expression evaluates to true, then the if block of code will be executed, otherwise
else block of code will be executed.

Flow Diagram

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3. if...else if...else Statement

An if statement can be followed by an optional else if...else statement, which is very usefull to
test various conditions using single if...else if statement.
When using if, else if, else statements there are few points to keep in mind.
 An if can have zero or one else's and it must come after any else if's.
 An if can have zero to many else if's and they must come before the else.
 Once an else if succeeds, none of the remaining else if's or else's will be
tested.

Syntax
The syntax of an if...else if...else statement in C++ is:
if(boolean_expression 1)
{
// Executes when the boolean expression 1 is true
}
else if( boolean_expression 2)
{
// Executes when the boolean expression 2 is true
}
else if( boolean_expression 3)
{
// Executes when the boolean expression 3 is true
}
else
{
// executes when the none of the above condition is true.
}

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4. Switch Statement
A switch statement allows a variable to be tested for equality against a list of values. Each value
is called a case, and the variable being switched on is checked for each case.

Syntax
The syntax for a switch statement in C++ is as follows:
switch(expression){
case constant-expression :
statement(s);
break; //optional
case constant-expression :
statement(s);
break; //optional
// you can have any number of case statements.
default : //Optional
statement(s);
}

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The following rules apply to a switch statement:

 The expression used in a switch statement must have an integral or enumerated type or
be of a class type in which the class has a single conversion function to an integral or
enumerated type.
 You can have any number of case statements within a switch. Each case is followed by
the value to be compared to and a colon.
 The constant-expression for a case must be the same data type as the variable in the
switch, and it must be a constant or a literal.
 When the variable being switched on is equal to a case, the statements following that
case will execute until a break statement is reached.
 When a break statement is reached, the switch terminates, and the flow of control jumps
to the next line following the switch statement.
 Not every case needs to contain a break. If no break appears, the flow of control will fall
through to subsequent cases until a break is reached.
 A switch statement can have an optional default case, which must appear at the end of
the switch. The default case can be used for performing a task when none of the cases is
true. No break is needed in the default case.

Flow Diagram

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5. Nested if Statement
It is always legal to nest if-else statements, which means you can use one if or else if statement
inside another if or else if statement(s).

Syntax
The syntax for a nested if statement is as follows:
if( boolean_expression 1)
{
// Executes when the boolean expression 1 is true
if(boolean_expression 2)
{
// Executes when the boolean expression 2 is true
}
}
You can nest else if...else in the similar way as you have nested if statement.

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6. Nested switch Statements

It is possible to have a switch as part of the statement sequence of an outer switch. Even if the
case constants of the inner and outer switch contain common values, no conflicts will arise. C++
specifies that at least 256 levels of nesting be allowed for switch statements.
Syntax
The syntax for a nested switch statement is as follows:
switch(ch1) {
case 'A' :
cout << "This A is part of outer switch" ;
switch(ch2) {
case 'A' :
cout << "This A is part of inner switch";
break;
case 'B' : // ...
}
break;
case 'B' : // ...
}

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Looping Types
There may be a situation, when you need to execute a block of code several numbers of times.
In general, statements are executed sequentially: The first statement in a function is executed
first, followed by the second, and so on.

Programming languages provide various control structures that allow for more complicated
execution paths.

A loop statement allows us to execute a statement or group of statements multiple times and
following is the general from of a loop statement in most of the programming languages −

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C++ programming language provides the following type of loops to handle looping
requirements.

Loop Type Description

while loop Repeats a statement or group of statements while a given condition is

true. It tests the condition before executing the loop body.

Execute a sequence of statements multiple times and abbreviates the

for loop
code that manages the loop variable.

do...while loop Like a ‘while’ statement, except that it tests the condition at the end of
the loop body.

You can use one or more loop inside any another ‘while’, ‘for’ or
nested loops
‘do..while’ loop.

1. While Loop
A while loop statement repeatedly executes a target statement as long as a given condition is
true.
Syntax
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The syntax of a while loop in C++ is:

while(condition)
{
statement(s);
}
Here, statement(s) may be a single statement or a block of statements. The condition may be
any expression, and true is any non-zero value. The loop iterates while the condition is true.
When the condition becomes false, program control passes to the line immediately following the
loop.
Flow Diagram

Here, key point of the while loop is that the loop might not ever run. When the condition is
tested and the result is false, the loop body will be skipped and the first statement after the while
loop will be executed.

2. for Loop
A for loop is a repetition control structure that allows you to efficiently write a
loop that needs to execute a specific number of times.
Syntax
The syntax of a for loop in C++ is:
for ( init; condition; increment )
{
statement(s);
}

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Here is the flow of control in a for loop:

1. The init step is executed first, and only once. This step allows you to declare and initialize
any loop control variables. You are not required to put a statement here, as long as a semicolon
appears.
2. Next, the condition is evaluated. If it is true, the body of the loop is executed. If it is false, the
body of the loop does not execute and flow of control jumps to the next statement just after the
for loop.
3. After the body of the for loop executes, the flow of control jumps back up to the increment
statement. This statement allows you to update any loop control variables. This statement can be
left blank, as long as a semicolon appears after the condition.
4. The condition is now evaluated again. If it is true, the loop executes and the process repeats
itself (body of loop, then increment step, and then again condition). After the condition becomes
false, the for loop terminates.
Flow Diagram Example

3. do…while Loop
Unlike for and while loops, which test the loop condition at the top of the loop, the do...while
loop checks its condition at the bottom of the loop. A do...while loop is similar to a while loop,
except that a do...while loop is guaranteed to execute at least one time.
Syntax
The syntax of a do...while loop in C++ is:

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do
{
statement(s);
}while( condition );
Notice that the conditional expression appears at the end of the loop, so the statement(s) in the
loop execute once before the condition is tested. If the condition is true, the flow of control
jumps back up to do, and the statement(s) in the loop execute again. This process repeats until
the given condition becomes false.

Example

Loop Control Statements

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Loop control statements change execution from its normal sequence. When execution leaves a
scope, all automatic objects that were created in that scope are destroyed.

C++ supports the following control statements.

Control Statement Description

break statement Terminates the loop or switch statement and transfers execution to
the statement immediately following the loop or switch.

continue Causes the loop to skip the remainder of its body and immediately
statement
retest its condition prior to reiterating.

goto statement Transfers control to the labeled statement. Though it is not advised
to use goto statement in your program.

1. Break Statement
The break statement has the following two usages in C++:
 When the break statement is encountered inside a loop, the loop is immediately terminated
and program control resumes at the next statement following the loop.
 It can be used to terminate a case in the switch statement (covered in the next chapter). If you
are using nested loops (i.e., one loop inside another loop), the break statement will stop the
execution of the innermost loop and start executing the next line of code after the block.
Syntax
The syntax of a break statement in C++ is:
break;
Flow Diagram

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2. continue Statement
The continue statement works somewhat like the break statement. Instead of forcing
termination, however, continue forces the next iteration of the loop to take place, skipping any
code in between. For the for loop, continue causes the conditional test and increment portions of
the loop to execute. For the while and do...while loops, program control passes to the
conditional tests.
Syntax
The syntax of a continue statement in C++ is:
continue;

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3. goto Statement
A goto statement provides an unconditional jump from the goto to a labeled statement in the
same function.
NOTE: Use of goto statement is highly discouraged because it makes difficult to trace the
control flow of a program, making the program hard to understand and hard to modify. Any
program that uses a goto can be rewritten so that it doesn't need the goto.
Syntax
The syntax of a goto statement in C++ is:
goto label;
..
.
label: statement;
Where label is an identifier that identifies a labeled statement. A labeled statement is any
statement that is preceded by an identifier followed by a colon(:).

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One good use of goto is to exit from a deeply nested routine. For example, consider the
following code fragment:
for(...) {
for(...) {
while(...) {
if(...) goto stop;
….
}
}
}
stop:
cout << "Error in program. \n";
Eliminating the goto would force a number of additional tests to be performed. A simple break
statement would not work here, because it would only cause the program to exit from the
innermost loop.
The Infinite Loop
A loop becomes infinite loop if a condition never becomes false. The for loop is traditionally
used for this purpose. Since none of the three expressions that form the ‘for’ loop are required,

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you can make an endless loop by leaving the conditional expression empty.
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main ()
{
for( ; ; )
{
cout<<"This loop will run forever. \n”;
}
return 0;
}
When the conditional expression is absent, it is assumed to be true. You may have an
initialization and increment expression, but C++ programmers more commonly use the ‘for (;;)’
construct to signify an infinite loop.
NOTE: You can terminate an infinite loop by pressing Ctrl + C keys.

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