1.6. Conditionals

Conditional statements in Python and Java are very similar. In Python we have three patterns:

1.6.1. Simple if

if condition:
    statement1
    statement2
    ...

In Java this same pattern is simply written as:

if (condition) {
    statement1
    statement2
    ...
}

Once again you can see that in Java the curly braces define a block rather than indentation. In Java the parenthesis around the condition are required because if is technically a function that evaluates to True or False.

1.6.2. if else

if condition:
    statement1
    statement2
    ...
else:
    statement1
    statement2
    ...

In Java this is written as:

if (condition) {
    statement1
    statement2
    ...
} else {
    statement1
    statement2
    ...
}

1.6.3. elif

Java does not have an elif pattern like Python. In Java you can get the functionality of an elif statement by nesting if and else. Here is a simple example in both Python and Java.

grade = int(input('enter a grade')) if grade < 60: print('F') elif grade < 70: print('D') elif grade < 80: print('C') elif grade < 90: print('B') else: print('A')

In Java we have a couple of ways to write this

public class ElseIf { public static void main(String args[]) { int grade = 85; if (grade < 60) { System.out.println('F'); } else { if (grade < 70) { System.out.println('F'); } else { if (grade < 80) { System.out.println('F'); } else { if (grade < 90) { System.out.println('F'); } else { System.out.println('F'); } } } } } }

We can get even closer to the elif statement by taking advantage of the Java rule that a single statement does not need to be enclosed in curly braces. Since the if is the only statement used in each else we can get away with the following.

public class ElseIf { public static void main(String args[]) { int grade = 85; if (grade < 60) { System.out.println('F'); } else if (grade < 70) { System.out.println('D'); } else if (grade < 80) { System.out.println('C'); } else if (grade < 90) { System.out.println('B'); } else System.out.println('A'); } }

1.6.4. switch

Java also supports a switch statement that acts something like the elif statement of Python under certain conditions. To write the grade program using a switch statement we would use the following:

public class SwitchUp { public static void main(String args[]) { int grade = 85; int tempgrade = grade / 10; switch(tempgrade) { case 10: case 9: System.out.println('A'); break; case 8: System.out.println('B'); break; case 7: System.out.println('C'); break; case 6: System.out.println('A'); break; default: System.out.println('F'); } } }

The switch statement is not used very often, and I recommend you do not use it! First, it is not as powerful as the else if model because the switch variable can only be compared for equality with an integer or enumerated constant. Second it is very easy to forget to put in the break statement. If the break statement is left out then then the next alternative will be automatically executed. For example if the grade was 95 and the break was omitted from the case 9: alternative then the program would print(out both A and B.)

1.6.5. Boolean Operators

The conditionals used in the if statement can be boolean variables, simple comparisons, and compound boolean expressions.

Java also supports the boolean expression. condition ? trueValue : falseValue This expression can be used to test a condition as part of an assignment statement. For example a = a % 2 == 0 ? a*a : 3*x -1 In the previous assignment statement the expression a%2 ==0 is first checked. If it is true then a is assigned the value a * a if it is false then a is assigned the value of 3*x-1. Of course all of this could have been accomplished using a regular if else statement, but sometimes the convenience of a single statement is too much to resist.

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