if-else Statement in Java

Last Updated: 15 January, 2023

The objective of this tutorial is to give you a basic understanding of control flow statements using Java if and if...else statements with examples.

If-else statements are conditional statements that help us run a specific block of code if the condition is either true or else.

The if statement is true, it will execute a block of code; otherwise, it will not. But what if we want to do something else if the condition is false, here comes the else statement. We can use the else statement with the if statement to execute a block of code when the condition is false.

The else statement is optional; it comes with the if statement only. It cannot be written without an if statement.

Types of if and if-else statements in Java

1. if statement
2. if-else statement
3. if-else-if ladder
4. nested if-else statement

Before we proceed, let's take a look at the syntax of an if-else statement: 

if(condition == true) { // Executes this block if condition is true } else { // Executes this block if condition is false }

👉 Java if statement

It has a single block. The if statement is true, then execute the block; otherwise, skip the block and execute the next instruction.

Example:

// Java Program to demonstate the use of if statement. public class IfExample { public static void main(String[] args) { int speed = 40; if(speed > 30){ System.out.print("Your car speed is greater than 30 KM/H"); } } }

Output

Your car speed is greater than 30 KM/H

👉 Java if-else statement

It has two blocks. The first is an if statement block, followed by an else statement block. The if statement is true, then execute the if block; otherwise, the else block will be executed.

Example:

//A Java Program to demonstrate the use of if-else statement. public class IfElseExample { public static void main(String[] args) { int speed = 40; if(speed > 30) { System.out.println("Your card speed is more than specified speed"); } else { System.out.println("Your card speed is not more than specified speed"); } } }

Output

Your card speed is more than specified speed

👉 Java if-else-if ladder Statement

It has multiple blocks. The if-else-if ladder is used to choose between multiple options. The if statements are executed from the top down. If any if statement matches the given condition, then it executes the associated block, and the rest of the ladder is bypassed. If none of the conditions is true, then the final else statement will be executed.

Example:

//Java Program to demonstrate the use of If else-if ladder. class IfElseIfExample { public static void main(String[] args) { int speed = 65; if(speed <= 100){ System.out.println("Speed is too fast"); } else if(speed >= 60 && speed < 100){ System.out.println("Speed is fast"); } else if(speed >= 40 && speed < 60){ System.out.println("Speed is average"); } else if(speed >= 30 && speed < 40){ System.out.println("Speed is slow"); }else{ System.out.println("Speed is too slow"); } } }

Output

Speed is too fast

👉 Java Nested if-else statement

The nested if statement represents the if block inside another if block. The first if statement is called Outer if and the inside declared if statement is called inner if. The inner if only executes if the outer if condition is true.

Example:

// Java Program to demonstrate the use of Nested If Statement. class JavaNestedIfExample { public static void main(String[] args) { int speed = 40; boolean hasValidDL = true; if(speed > 50) { if(hasValidDL == false){ System.out.println("Driver has to pay fine for Speed and Invalid DL."); } else{ System.out.println("Leave with warning."); } } else { if(hasValidDL) { System.out.println("Speed and DL are OK."); } else { System.out.println("Driver has to pay fine for Invalid DL."); } } } }

Output

Speed and DL are OK.