Varieties of if Statements

Do not write a program that depends on the result of == with floating point.

There are many ways to use if statements. They can be used with one or two branches, and each branch can include one or more statements. The table that shows these variations.

The boolean expression in each of these varieties evaluates to true or false. Boolean expressions come in a variety of forms, which allow you to carefully state the conditions under which each branch will execute (see the next chapter for this).

The style of indenting shown in the table leads to fewer errors than other styles. An experiment with a group of professional programmers found this to be true. Of course, the Java compiler ignores indenting and blank lines. Use this style unless there is a good reason not to (such as an employer or instructor that requires a different style).

No matter which style you use, be consistent. Use the same number of spaces for indenting. (I use two spaces. Many people prefer four.) Soon you will be able to visualize the logic of your programs. Programming and error catching will be easier.