Understanding the C Else If Statement: Conditional Logic in Programming
Learn about the else if
statement in C programming, which enables the testing of multiple conditions in a clear and organized manner. Discover how to effectively use else if
to enhance your program's decision-making process.
C Else If Statement
The else if
Statement
The else if
statement allows you to specify a new condition to test if the first condition in an if
statement is false.
Syntax
Syntax
if (condition1) {
// block of code to be executed if condition1 is true
} else if (condition2) {
// block of code to be executed if condition1 is false and condition2 is true
} else {
// block of code to be executed if both condition1 and condition2 are false
}
Example: Using else if
to Compare Time
In the following example, we use an else if
statement to check multiple conditions based on the time of day:
Example
int time = 22;
if (time < 10) {
printf("Good morning.");
} else if (time < 20) {
printf("Good day.");
} else {
printf("Good evening.");
}
Output
Good evening.
Example Explained
In this example, the value of time
is 22. The program first checks if time < 10
, which is false. Then it moves to the else if
statement to check if time < 20
, which is also false. Since both conditions are false, the program executes the block inside the else
statement, printing "Good evening."
If the value of time
had been 14, the program would have printed "Good day" instead.