Chapter 3(b) - Selection Nested if statement

Nested if statement
We may also include another if statement in the if

structure:

Multiple if/else statement if (expression)
(else if construct) {
if (expression)

Switch statement a;

Conditional expression Operator else
statement b;
}
else
statement c;
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Nested if statement

An if statement may appear inside another if
statement.

When this is done, the inner if statement is
said to be “nested” inside the outer if statement.

For example, you are eligible to vote only if you
are a citizen and you are at least 18 years old

If the user’s input is that they are at least 18
years old and a citizen, the program outputs
that they are eligible to vote
3 4

Sample run
Enter your age: 18
Are you a citizen (Y/N): Y
You are eligible to vote
===
Enter your age: 18
Are you a citizen (Y/N): N
You are not eligible to vote
===
Enter your age: 17
Are you a citizen (Y/N): Y
You are not eligible to vote
===
Enter your age: 17
Are you a citizen (Y/N): N
You are not eligible to vote 5 6

The if/else structure comparing whether
The following program is an application at

the user is a citizen is nested within another
if/else structure comparing whether the
user is at least 18 years old.

The if/else structure comparing whether
the user is a citizen is referred to as the
“inner” if/else structure.

The if/else structure comparing whether
the user is at least 18 years old is referred
to as the “outer” if/else structure.
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the movie admission counter to determine
the age of the user in order to decide
whether they are eligible for free entrance

If the user’s input indicates that they are
either no more than 12 years old or at least
65 years old, the program outputs that their
admission is free.

Otherwise, the program outputs that they
have to pay.
 Sample run

Enter your age: 12
Admission is free
===

Enter your age: 13
You have to pay
===

Enter your age: 65
Admission is free

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The inner if/else structure, comparing whether

the user is at least 65 years old, is nested
within the outer if/else structure, comparing
whether the user is over 12 years old.

By this nesting, the comparison of whether the
user is at least 65 years old is made only if the
user is over 12 years old.

Alternatively, the program could have been
written using the multiple if/else structure in
place of the nested if statements
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Nesting one if statement inside another by its

very nature may be somewhat difficult to write
and understand

However, the multiple if/else structure has the
disadvantage of repeating the same cout
statement for both the if and else if parts.

While this is just one line of repetitive code in
this program, in more complex programs the
repetitive code could be many lines long.

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The next example uses nested if else

statement to find the minimum of 3
numbers

This program has the same effect as the
one in Example 4 and Example 9

It is more efficient than Example 9 because
on any run it will evaluate only two simple
conditions instead of three compound
conditions
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Multiple if-else statement

There exist situations with more than
two mutually exclusive alternatives

For example, if you take a test, your
grade may be one of five types: A, B,
C, D, or F.

Additionally, these grades are mutually
exclusive; you can’t get an A and a C
on the same test.
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Use multiple if / else statement when
there are three or more mutually
exclusive alternatives

The multiple if / else statement has an
if part and an else part, like an if/else
statement.

However, it also has one or more
else if parts (else if construct)
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The else if Construct

The else if part works similarly to an Syntax:

if expression.

The else if keywords are followed by
a relational expression

If the expression is true, then the
conditional statement or statements
“belonging” to the else if part is
executed.
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If (condition) statement1;
else if (condition) statement2;
else if (condition) statement3;
else if (condition) statement4;
else statement5;
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// Using the else if construct to select a range of score

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main()
If (condition) {
statement1; int score;
else if (condition)
cout << "Enter your test score: ";
statement2;
cin >> score;
else if (condition)
if (score >= 90) cout << "Your grade is an A.\n";
statement3;
else if (score >= 80) cout << "Your grade is a B.\n";
else if (condition)
statement4; else if (score >= 70) cout << "Your grade is a C.\n";
else else if (score >= 60) cout << "Your grade is a D.\n";
statement5; else cout << "Your grade is an F.\n";
}
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Sample Run

Enter your test score: 45

Your grade is a D.

Enter your test score: 80

Your grade is a B.

Enter your test score: 105

Error: that score is out of range
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Next example covers all other
possibilities better in contrast to
previous example

It considers the exam score which is
out of normal range (i.e. 0-100)

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The switch Statement

Syntax:

You cannot have an else if part without a
preceding if part switch (expression)
{

However, you may have an if part and one
case constant1: statementList1; break;
or more else if parts without an else part
case constant2: statementList2; break;

The downside in omitting the else part is case constant3: statementList3; break;
you will not have code to cover the “none of :
the above” scenario in which none of the case constantN: statementListN; break;
relational expressions belonging to the if default: statementList0;
part and else if parts is true }
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The switch statement is similar to a multiple
if /else statement.

Expression must evaluate to an integral type

The constants must be integral constants

Break statements can be optional but
without it, the program execution will not
branch directly out of the switch block after
it finishes executing its case statement
sequence

This evaluates the expression and then its
value among case constants

If the value is found among the constants
listed, then the statements in the
corresponding stated statementList are
executed

Otherwise if there is default (optional), then
the program branches to its statementList

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31 32
switch versus multiple
if/else

The comparison following the if part
may be independent of the
comparison following an else if part

Eg.
if (apples == oranges)
do this;
else if (sales >= 5000)
do that;

By contrast, in a switch statement, the constant
integer expression following a case keyword
must be compared with the value following the
switch keyword, and nothing else

In a switch statement (once a matching case
statement is found), unless a break statement
is reached, execution “falls through” to the
following case statements that execute their
conditional statements without checking for a
match
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Necessity of falls through

For example, if you removed the break
In the following modification of the
statements from the program, you could
have the following sample run:
grade program, the falling-through
behavior permits the user to enter a
Enter your grade: A lowercase grade in addition to an
Your average must be between 90 – 100 uppercase grade
Your average must be between 80 - 89
Your average must be between 70 - 79
Your average must be between 60 - 69
Your average must be below 60 35 36

37 38

Problem of falls through

39 40

Another difference between switch and else if
statements concerns the handling of ranges of
numbers

When it comes to range of numbers, the switch
statement appears to be more cumbersome

This is because the switch statement keyword has
to be followed by an integer constant

For example, earlier in this chapter we used an else
if statement to output the user’s grade based on
the test score that was input by the user. The
issued grade was an A if the test score was
between 90 and 100, a B if the test score was
between 80 and 89, and so on.
41

By contrast, a case statement cannot be followed
by an expression (e.g. testScore >= 90) because
the case statement keyword has to be followed by
an integer constant

Instead, a case statement would be necessary for
each possible test score.

The following code fragment shows only the code
for an A or B grade to avoid the code example
being unduly long, but the code for a C or D grade
would be essentially a repeat (an F grade would be
handled with the default keyword)
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This code example illustrates that the switch statement

is more cumbersome than the if /else if /else structure in
dealing with ranges of numbers.

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The conditional
expression Operator

C++ provides a special operator that
often can be used in pace of the
if….else statement

Should be used sparingly

Use only when the condition and both
expression are very simple

Syntax:
condition ? expression1 : expression2
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