Lesson:

Conditionals
Pre-Requisites:
Basic Java syntax
Data types, variables, keywords
Operators

List of Concepts Involved:

If statement
If-else statement
If-else if statement
Nested if-else statement
Conditional operators
Switch statement

In real life we often encounter situations where our actions are governed by some sort of conditions. For
instance, if the weather is rainy, we carry an umbrella. Here carrying an umbrella is an action that is performed
only when the condition of the weather being rainy is fulfilled.

In programming, this kind of scenario is handled with the help of conditional statements.

Let us have a look at the different conditional statements supported by Java.

Topic: If statement
An if statement is the most common conditional statement. It executes when the condition being checked
evaluates to true.

Syntax

if (condition)

statement;

Let us look at this simple example:-

if(marks > 80)

System.out.print(“Pass”);

Case - 1: marks = 85

Output - Pass

Explanation - Since the marks is greater than 80 i.e. the condition inside ‘if’ parentheses is true, we get “Pass”
printed in the output.

Cracking the Coding Interview in JAVA - Foundation

Case - 2: marks = 70

Output - No output

Explanation - Since the marks is not greater than 80 i.e. the condition inside if parentheses is false, the
statement inside the if block is skipped/not executed i.e. we get nothing printed in the output.

Let us now look at the variation of if statement i.e. if-else.

Topic: If-else statement

Sometimes we encounter situations where we have to choose between two options. For example, if it's Tuesday
I’ll eat a veg burger otherwise I’ll eat a non-veg burger.

An if-else statement is designed to give us this functionality in our code. It executes statements if some
condition is true or false. If the condition is true, the if part is executed, otherwise the else part of the statement
is executed.

Syntax

if (condition)

statement - 1

} else

statement - 2

Let us understand it with the help of the following example -

To illustrate the working of an if-else statement, we can create a grading system. We’ll assume that the score
ranges between 0 to 100(both inclusive). A score above 33 gets a “Pass” verdict, otherwise, it’s “Fail”.

To solve this problem, we can use an if-else statement. Let's see how!

if (score > 33)

System.out.println(“Pass”);

} else

System.out.println(“Fail”);

Case - 1: grade = 60

Output - Pass

Explanation - Since the score is more than 33 i.e. the condition inside ‘if’ parentheses is true, we get “Pass”
printed.

Case - 2: grade = 20

Output - Fail

Explanation - Since the score is not more than 33 i.e. the condition inside ’if’ parentheses is false, the compiler
jumps to the else part of the code and we get “Fail” printed.

Cracking the Coding Interview in JAVA - Foundation

Try these:

1. Find if the input value is odd or even. If it’s odd print “Odd”, otherwise print “Even”.

Note: Input value will be between 1 and 106.

2. Find if the input character is ‘a’ or not.

Note: Input characters will be lowercase alphabets.

There is another variation of the if statement. Let us explore.

Topic: If-else if statement

It works on the same principle as if-else statement,however,here we can have multiple conditions. If the
condition inside the if block is true, then the code/ statement inside if block will be executed, if it is false, the
control will move to the else-if block and will check if it is true and execute the statement in the else-if block.
When the condition in else-if block is false, it will execute the statements in the final else block.

We can have multiple else-if blocks too.

Syntax

if (condition - 1)

statement - 1

} else if (condition - 2)

statement - 2

} else

statement - 3

Let us try to solve the example below

To implement if else-if, we can further expand our grading system problem. Apart from pass and fail now it will
give grades based on the score.

Cracking the Coding Interview in JAVA - Foundation

To solve this problem, we can use an if - else if - else statement to execute different actions depending upon
the score:

if(score > 80)

System.out.println(“A”);

} else if (score > 60)

System.out.println(“B”);

} else if (score > 40)

System.out.println(“C”);

} else

System.out.println(“D”);

Case - 1: grade = 81

Output - A

Explanation - Since the score is more than 80 i.e. the condition inside if parentheses is true, “A” gets printed.

Case - 2: grade = 61

Output - B

Explanation - Since the score is less than 80, the first block is skipped and since it is more than 60 i.e. the
condition inside else-if parentheses is true, “B” gets printed.

Case - 3: grade = 41

Output - C

Explanation - Since the score is 41, the first 2 blocks are skipped and then the condition for the third block is
checked. It turns out that it is true, so “C” gets printed and the rest is skipped.

Case - 4: grade = 21

Output - D

Explanation - Since all the conditions are false, the else-block will execute and we get “D” as output.

Try these :
Write a program to identify people as “Child” (age < 12), “Teenager” (12 <= age < 18) or “Adult” (age >= 18).
Print the maximum of 3 numbers a, b, c taken as input.

Let us now increase the dimension and abilities of if and explore the concept of nested if-else statements.

Cracking the Coding Interview in JAVA - Foundation

Topic: Nested if-else
It is simply an if-else statement inside another if-else statement.

Syntax

if (condition - 1)

if (condition - 2)

statement - 1

} else

statement - 2

} else

statement - 3

Consider the following scenario :

if (score > 33)

if(score > 80)

System.out.print(“Gracefully ”);

System.out.println(“Pass”);

} else

System.out.println(“Fail”);

Note: Watch the curly braces { }

Input :

Score = 30

Output :

Fail

Input :

Score = 90

Output :

Gracefully Pass

Input :

Score = 60

Output:

Pass

Operators that assist in the functioning of conditional statements by proper and accurate condition checks are
known as conditional operators. We have already seen a few in the previous lecture but it deserves a mention
here too. So, let us learn more about them.

Cracking the Coding Interview in JAVA - Foundation

Topic: Conditional operators
These operators are used when a condition comprises of more than one boolean expression/ condition check.
For instance, if we want to print a number only if it is greater than 2 and less than 5, then we will use conditional
operators to combine the 2 expressions. We have 3 types of conditional operators - logical-and, logical-or and
ternary operator.

Logical-and operator (&&)

It is used when we want the condition to be true iff both the expressions are true.

Syntax

if(condition - 1 && condition - 2)

statement;

Let us look at this example:

Print the number if the input value is greater than 5 and less than 10.

if (val > 5 && val < 10) {

System.out.print(val);

Case - 1: val = 3

Output- No output

Explanation- The input value is less than 10 but it is not greater than 5.

Case - 2: val = 7

Output- 7

Explanation- The input value is both less than 10 and greater than 5.

Case - 3: val = 13

Output- No output

Explanation- The input value is greater than 5 but it is not less than 10.

Common misconception: ‘&’ v/s ‘&&’

& -> compares bitwise

&& -> logical and

The first one (&) parses through all the conditions, despite their evaluation as true or false. However, the latter
traverses through the second condition only if the first condition is evaluated as true, otherwise it negates the
entire condition. For instance,

System.out.println(false & 5/0==2);

It gives us a runtime error since 5 is divided by 0, which isn't a valid operation. However, if we write-

Cracking the Coding Interview in JAVA - Foundation

System.out.println(false && 5/0==2);

we get “false” as the output. This is because our first condition is false, which is enough to make the entire
condition false here.

Tip: Always use parentheses around every condition.

Try this

Write a program to print the value of input if it is even and divisible by 3.

Logical-or operator (||)

This operator is used when any one of the boolean expressions is evaluated as true.

Syntax

if(condition - 1 || condition - 2)

statement;

Let us look at this example:

Print the number if the input value is greater than 10 or less than 5.

Code

if (val < 5 || val > 10)

System.out.print(val);

Case - 1: val = 3

Output- 3

Explanation- The input value is less than 5. It is enough to satisfy the condition so the second condition won't
be tested and the val will be printed.

Case - 2: val = 7

Output- No output

Explanation- Both the conditions are evaluated as false.

Case - 3: val = 13

Output- 13

Explanation- The input value is not smaller than 5 but it is greater than 10. So overall it will be evaluated as
true.

Try this

Write a program to print the value of input if it is divisible by 3 or 5.

Common misconception: ‘|’ v/s ‘||’

| -> compares bitwise

|| -> logical or

Cracking the Coding Interview in JAVA - Foundation

The first one parses through all the conditions, despite their evaluation as true or false. However, the latter
traverses through the second condition only if the first condition is evaluated as false, otherwise it validates the
entire condition. For instance,

System.out.println(true | 5/0==2);

It gives a runtime error since 5 is being divided by 0, which isn't a valid operation. However, if we write-

System.out.println(true || 5/0==2);

We get “true” as the output. This is because our first condition is true, which is enough to make the entire
condition true in case of logical or.

Ternary operator (?:)

It is a smaller version for the if-else statement. If the condition is true then the statement - 1 is executed else the
statement - 2 is executed.

Syntax

condition ? statement - 1 : statement - 2;

Let us have a look at this example:

Without ternary operator

if (val % 2 == 1)

System.out.println(“Value entered is odd”);

} else

System.out. println(“Value entered is even”);

With ternary operator

val % 2 == 1 ? System.out.println(“Value entered is odd) : System.out.println(“Value entered

is even);

Case - 1: val = 1

Output (without ternary operator) - Value entered is odd

Output (with ternary operator) - Value entered is odd

Case - 2: val = 2

Output (without ternary operator) - Value entered is even

Output (with ternary operator) - Value entered is even

Cracking the Coding Interview in JAVA - Foundation

Try these :

1. Write a short program that gives the following as output -

For each multiple of 3, print "Fizz" instead of the number.

For each multiple of 5, print "Buzz" instead of the number.

For numbers which are multiples of both 3 and 5, print "FizzBuzz" instead of the number.

Otherwise print the number itself.

2. Write a short program that prints each number from 1 to 100 on a new line, except if the number is a

multiple of 5 or 7.

We have now reached to the final conditional statement viz switch case. This renders the program to look
extremely neat and organized. Let us learn more about it.

Topic: Switch statement

Assume we have a variable and we want to do multiple operations on it based upon the value it stores. In such
cases the switch statements are the most convenient and useful concept.

It is like an if-else ladder with multiple conditions, where we check for equality of a variable with different
values.

It works with byte, short, int, long, enum types, String and some wrapper types like Byte, Short, Int, and Long.
Since Java 7, you can use strings in the switch statement.

Syntax

switch (expression)

case x:

// code

break;

case y:

// code

break;

default:

// code

Note: The case value must be literal or constant, and must be unique.

Let us look at this example:

Write a program using switch statements to check if the input lowercase character is vowel or consonant.

Cracking the Coding Interview in JAVA - Foundation

Code :

switch (ch) {

case ‘a’:

System.out.println(“Vowel”);

break;

case ‘e’:

System.out.println(“Vowel”);

break;

case ‘i’:

System.out.println(“Vowel”);

break;

case ‘o’:

System.out.println(“Vowel”);

break;

case ‘u’:

System.out.println(“Vowel”);

break;

default:

System.out.println(“Consonant”);

Case - 1: ch = ‘e’

Output - Vowel

Case - 2: ch = ‘w’

Output - Consonant

‘Break’ is a very important keyword when we are implementing switch statement (we will explore it in detail
in the forthcoming lectures). Lets look at an example where we implement a logic with and without break
statement.

Case 1: Without using Break Statement

int val = 5;

switch (val)

case (5):

System.out.println(“Five”);

case (6):

System.out.println(“Six”);

case (7):

System.out.println(“Seven”);

Output:

Five

Six

Seven

Cracking the Coding Interview in JAVA - Foundation

Explanation:

Surprised? You did not expect this, did you? Let us see why ?

Here, even when the first case is true, it will keep on executing all the subsequent statements until it encounters
a break statement(which we have not used anywhere). After the break statement, it will break out of the switch
statement.

To get the expected result, let us modify the program a little.

Case 2: Using Break Statement

int val = 6;

switch (val)

case (6):

System.out.println(“Six”);

break;

case (7):

System.out.println(“Seven”);

break;

case (8):

System.out.println(“Eight”);

break;

Output:

Six

Explanation : Using the break keyword here, helped the program to stop executing and come out of the switch
statement.

Try this

Write a program to print the day name based upon the day number.

1 - Monday, 2 - Tuesday, etc.

Upcoming Class Teasers

while loop
for loop
do-while loop
Break keyword
Continue keyword

Cracking the Coding Interview in JAVA - Foundation