Branching Statements in C: if, else, and switch with Examples

In C language, controlling the execution flow is essential to build interactive and responsive programs. This is achieved using branching statements. All the programs make decisions based on conditions. The primary branching statements in C are if, else and switch. This article will explore these statements in detail and look at examples of how they are used.

Branching Statements in C

Branching statements are statements in C language that help a programmer control the flow of program execution according to requirements. They are considered an essential aspect of Programming languages and are used to execute specific source code segments based on certain conditions.

The branching statements in C are categorised as follows:

• Conditional Branching Statements in C

• If Statement
• else Statement
• else-if Statement
• switch Statement

• Unconditional branching Statements in C

• goto Statement
• break Statement
• continue Statement

Conditional Branching Statements in C

Conditional branching statements in C allow programmers to execute specific blocks of source code based on certain conditions. These statements enable program decision-making, making them dynamic and responsive to user input or other criteria. The following are different types of conditional branching statements in C

• If Statement
• else statement
• else-if statement
• switch statement

If Statement

This statement executes the specific block of source code if a certain condition is evaluated to be true.

Syntax of if Statement in C

Example of if Statement in C

Here is an example of demonstrating the if statement in action.

Program

Output

else Statement

This statement is used just the opposite of the if statement. This statement executes the source code if the condition specified in the if statement is evaluated as false.

Syntax of else Statement in C

Example of else Statement in C

Output

else if Statement

In C, else if is a control structure used to execute different blocks of code according to different conditions. It adds some more conditions so that if the initial condition does not hold, it checks again if your conditions are met to perform more complex decision-making paths inside your program.

Syntax of else-if Statement in C

Example of else-if Statement in C

Output

switch Statement

The switch statement in C is used when we have multiple conditions to check. It is often used as an alternative to multiple “if” and “else if statements”.

Syntax of switch Statement in C

Example of Switch Statement in C

Output

Unconditional Branching Statements in C

In C, unconditional branching statements change the normal flow of program execution. These statements allow programmers to jump to a specific point in their source code regardless of any condition.

There are following types of unconditional branching statements in C language.

• goto Statement
• break Statement
• continue Statement

goto Statement

The C goto statement in C is the control flow statement by which you may jump to a predefined label within the same function. It is not that generally discouraged in favor of more structured control flow statements like loops and conditionals.

Syntax of goto Statement in C

Example of goto Statement in C

Output 

break Statement

C provides a control flow statement called the break statement that breaks out of a loop or a switch statement from its normal course of execution. At any point when a break statement is encountered, it takes away control to the next statement after the loop or switch.

Syntax of break Statement in C

break;

Example of break Statement in C

Output

continue Statement

The continue statement is used in loops, such as for, while and do-while loops. The continue statements are encountered, the remaining source code in the current iteration is skipped, and the loop proceeds with the next iteration.

Syntax of continue Statement in C

continue;

Example of continue Statement in C

Output

Conclusion

Conditional statements in ‘C’ like if, else, and switch are the most important control statements that guide the execution of programs at the time of flow control.m. The developers can incorporate decision-making abilities within the statements, which makes the programme flexible enough to adapt to various conditions and input. Through the proper use of these branching statements, programmers can design more dynamic and robust applications. Knowledge about these control structures can be considered the core knowledge to be acquired while learning a C language and developing the correct algorithms because of various conditions and situations encountered during computation.