Java Control Statements | Control Flow in Java
In Java provides statements that can be used to control the flow of Java code. Such
statements are called control flow statements. It is one of the fundamental features of Java, which
provides a smooth flow of program.
Java provides three types of control flow statements.
1. Decision Making statements
o if statements
o switch statement
2. Loop statements
o do while loop
o while loop
o for loop
o for-each loop
3. Jump statements
o break statement
o continue statement
Decision-Making statements:
Decision-making statements evaluate the Boolean expression and control the program
flow depending upon the result of the condition provided. There are two types of decision-
making statements in Java, i.e., If statement and switch statement.
1) If Statement:
In Java, the "if" statement is used to evaluate a condition. The control of the program is
diverted depending upon the specific condition. The condition of the If statement gives a
Boolean value, either true or false. In Java, there are four types of if-statements given below.
1. Simple if statement
2. if-else statement
3. if-else-if ladder
4. Nested if-statement
1) Simple if statement:
It is the most basic statement among all control flow statements in Java. It evaluates a
Boolean expression and enables the program to enter a block of code if the expression evaluates
to true.
Syntax of if statement is given below.
1. if(condition) {
2. statement 1; //executes when condition is true
3. }
Student.java
1. public class Student {
2. public static void main(String[] args) {
3. int x = 10;
4. int y = 12;
5. if(x+y > 20) {
6. System.out.println("x + y is greater than 20");
7. }
8. }
9. }
Output:
x + y is greater than 20
2) if-else statement
The if-else statement is an extension to the if-statement, which uses another block of code, i.e.,
else block. The else block is executed if the condition of the if-block is evaluated as false.
Syntax:
1. if(condition) {
2. statement 1; //executes when condition is true
3. }
4. else{
5. statement 2; //executes when condition is false
6. }
Consider the following example.
Student.java
1. public class Student {
2. public static void main(String[] args) {
3. int x = 10;
4. int y = 12;
5. if(x+y < 10) {
6. System.out.println("x + y is less than 10");
7. } else {
8. System.out.println("x + y is greater than 20");
9. }
10. }
11. }
Output:
x + y is greater than 20
3) if-else-if ladder:
The if-else-if statement contains the if-statement followed by multiple else-if statements. In other
words, we can say that it is the chain of if-else statements that create a decision tree where the
program may enter in the block of code where the condition is true. We can also define an else
statement at the end of the chain.
Syntax of if-else-if statement is given below.
1. if(condition 1) {
2. statement 1; //executes when condition 1 is true
3. }
4. else if(condition 2) {
5. statement 2; //executes when condition 2 is true
6. }
7. else {
8. statement 2; //executes when all the conditions are false
9. }
Consider the following example.
Student.java
1. public class Student {
2. public static void main(String[] args) {
3. String city = "Delhi";
4. if(city == "Meerut") {
5. System.out.println("city is meerut");
6. }else if (city == "Noida") {
7. System.out.println("city is noida");
8. }else if(city == "Agra") {
9. System.out.println("city is agra");
10. }else {
11. System.out.println(city);
12. }
13. }
14. }
Output:
Delhi
4. Nested if-statement
In nested if-statements, the if statement can contain a if or if-else statement inside another if or
else-if statement.
Syntax of Nested if-statement is given below.
1. if(condition 1) {
2. statement 1; //executes when condition 1 is true
3. if(condition 2) {
4. statement 2; //executes when condition 2 is true
5. }
6. else{
7. statement 2; //executes when condition 2 is false
8. }
9. }
Consider the following example.
Student.java
1. public class Student {
2. public static void main(String[] args) {
3. String address = "Delhi, India";
4.
5. if(address.endsWith("India")) {
6. if(address.contains("Meerut")) {
7. System.out.println("Your city is Meerut");
8. }else if(address.contains("Noida")) {
9. System.out.println("Your city is Noida");
10. }else {
11. System.out.println(address.split(",")[0]);
12. }
13. }else {
14. System.out.println("You are not living in India");
15. }
16. }
17. }
Output:
Delhi
Switch Statement:
In Java, Switch statements are similar to if-else-if statements. The switch statement contains
multiple blocks of code called cases and a single case is executed based on the variable which is
being switched. The switch statement is easier to use instead of if-else-if statements. It also
enhances the readability of the program.
Points to be noted about switch statement:
o The case variables can be int, short, byte, char, or enumeration. String type is also
supported since version 7 of Java
o Cases cannot be duplicate
o Default statement is executed when any of the case doesn't match the value of expression.
It is optional.
o Break statement terminates the switch block when the condition is satisfied.
It is optional, if not used, next case is executed.
o While using switch statements, we must notice that the case expression will be of the
same type as the variable. However, it will also be a constant value.
The syntax to use the switch statement is given below.
1. switch (expression){
2. case value1:
3. statement1;
4. break;
5. .
6. .
7. .
8. case valueN:
9. statementN;
10. break;
11. default:
12. default statement;
13. }
Consider the following example to understand the flow of the switch statement.
Student.java
1. public class Student implements Cloneable {
2. public static void main(String[] args) {
3. int num = 2;
4. switch (num){
5. case 0:
6. System.out.println("number is 0");
7. break;
8. case 1:
9. System.out.println("number is 1");
10. break;
11. default:
12. System.out.println(num);
13. }
14. }
15. }
Output:
Loop Statements
In programming, sometimes we need to execute the block of code repeatedly while some
condition evaluates to true. However, loop statements are used to execute the set of instructions
in a repeated order. The execution of the set of instructions depends upon a particular condition.
In Java, we have three types of loops that execute similarly. However, there are differences in
their syntax and condition checking time.
1. for loop
2. while loop
3. do-while loop
Java for loop
In Java, for loop is similar to C and C++. It enables us to initialize the loop variable, check the
condition, and increment/decrement in a single line of code. We use the for loop only when we
exactly know the number of times, we want to execute the block of code.
1. for(initialization, condition, increment/decrement) {
2. //block of statements
3. }
The flow chart for the for-loop is given below.
Calculation.java
1. public class Calculattion {
2. public static void main(String[] args) {
3. // TODO Auto-generated method stub
4. int sum = 0;
5. for(int j = 1; j<=10; j++) {
6. sum = sum + j;
7. }
8. System.out.println("The sum of first 10 natural numbers is " + sum);
9. }
10. }
Output:
The sum of first 10 natural numbers is 55
Java for-each loop
Java provides an enhanced for loop to traverse the data structures like array or collection. In the
for-each loop, we don't need to update the loop variable. The syntax to use the for-each loop in
java is given below.
1. for(data_type var : array_name/collection_name){
2. //statements
3. }
Consider the following example to understand the functioning of the for-each loop in Java.
Calculation.java
1. public class Calculation {
2. public static void main(String[] args) {
3. // TODO Auto-generated method stub
4. String[] names = {"Java","C","C++","Python","JavaScript"};
5. System.out.println("Printing the content of the array names:\n");
6. for(String name:names) {
7. System.out.println(name);
8. }
9. }
10. }
Output:
Printing the content of the array names:
Java
C
C++
Python
JavaScript
Java while loop
The while loop is also used to iterate over the number of statements multiple times. However, if
we don't know the number of iterations in advance, it is recommended to use a while loop.
Unlike for loop, the initialization and increment/decrement doesn't take place inside the loop
statement in while loop.
It is also known as the entry-controlled loop since the condition is checked at the start of the
loop. If the condition is true, then the loop body will be executed; otherwise, the statements after
the loop will be executed.
The syntax of the while loop is given below.
1. while(condition){
2. //looping statements
3. }
The flow chart for the while loop is given in the following image.
Consider the following example.
Calculation .java
1. public class Calculation {
2. public static void main(String[] args) {
3. // TODO Auto-generated method stub
4. int i = 0;
5. System.out.println("Printing the list of first 10 even numbers \n");
6. while(i<=10) {
7. System.out.println(i);
8. i = i + 2;
9. }
10. }
11. }
Output:
Printing the list of first 10 even numbers
0
2
4
6
8
10
Java do-while loop
The do-while loop checks the condition at the end of the loop after executing the loop
statements. When the number of iteration is not known and we have to execute the loop at least
once, we can use do-while loop.
It is also known as the exit-controlled loop since the condition is not checked in advance. The
syntax of the do-while loop is given below.
1. do
2. {
3. //statements
4. } while (condition);
The flow chart of the do-while loop is given in the following image.
Consider the following example to understand the functioning of the do-while loop in Java.
Calculation.java
1. public class Calculation {
2. public static void main(String[] args) {
3. // TODO Auto-generated method stub
4. int i = 0;
5. System.out.println("Printing the list of first 10 even numbers \n");
6. do {
7. System.out.println(i);
8. i = i + 2;
9. }while(i<=10);
10. }
11. }
Output:
Printing the list of first 10 even numbers
0
2
4
6
8
10
Jump Statements
Jump statements are used to transfer the control of the program to the specific statements. In
other words, jump statements transfer the execution control to the other part of the program.
There are two types of jump statements in Java, i.e., break and continue.
The break statement example with for loop
Consider the following example in which we have used the break statement with the for loop.
BreakExample.java
1. public class BreakExample {
2.
3. public static void main(String[] args) {
4. // TODO Auto-generated method stub
5. for(int i = 0; i<= 10; i++) {
6. System.out.println(i);
7. if(i==6) {
8. break;
9. }
10. }
11. }
12. }
Output:
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
break statement example with labeled for loop
Calculation.java
1. public class Calculation {
2.
3. public static void main(String[] args) {
4. // TODO Auto-generated method stub
5. a:
6. for(int i = 0; i<= 10; i++) {
7. b:
8. for(int j = 0; j<=15;j++) {
9. c:
10. for (int k = 0; k<=20; k++) {
11. System.out.println(k);
12. if(k==5) {
13. break a;
14. }
15. }
16. }
17.
18. }
19. }
20.
21.
22. }
Output:
0
1
2
3
4
5
Java continue statement
e break statement, the continue statement doesn't break the loop, whereas, it skips the specific
part of the loop and jumps to the next iteration of the loop immediately.
Consider the following example to understand the functioning of the continue statement in Java.
1. public class ContinueExample {
2.
3. public static void main(String[] args) {
4. // TODO Auto-generated method stub
5.
6. for(int i = 0; i<= 2; i++) {
7.
8. for (int j = i; j<=5; j++) {
9.
10. if(j == 4) {
11. continue;
12. }
13. System.out.println(j);
14. }
15. }
16. }
17.
18. }
Output:
Output:
0
1
2
3
5
1
2
3
5
2
3
5
Electricity Bill Calculation:
ElectricityBillExample2.java
1. // import required classes and package if any
2. import java.util.*;
3. // create class ElectricityBillExample1 to calculate electricity bill
4. class ElectricityBillExample2
5. {
6. // main() method start
7. public static void main(String args[])
8. {
9. // declare variable units
10. int units;
11.
12. // variable to calculate electricity bill to pay
13. double billToPay = 0;
14.
15. // create Scanner class object to take input from user
16. Scanner sc = new Scanner(System.in);
17.
18. System.out.println("Enter number of units for calculating electricity bill.");
19. units = sc.nextInt();
20.
21. // check whether units are less than 100
22. if(units < 100)
23. {
24. billToPay = units * 1.20;
25. }
26. // check whether the units are less than 300
27. else if(units < 300){
28. billToPay = 100 * 1.20 + (units - 100) * 2;
29. }
30. // check whether the units are greater than 300
31. else if(units > 300)
32. {
33. billToPay = 100 * 1.20 + 200 * 2 + (units - 300) * 3;
34. }
35. System.out.println("The electricity bill for " +units+ " is : " + billToPay);
36. }
37. }
Output:
