Java, A Beginner's Guide, 5th Edition, 5th Edition

Two Control Statements

Inside a method, execution proceeds from one statement to the next, top to bottom. However, it is possible to alter this flow through the use of the various program control statements supported by Java. Although we will look closely at control statements later, two are briefly introduced here because we will be using them to write sample programs.

The if Statement

You can selectively execute part of a program through the use of Java’s conditional statement: the if. The Java if statement works much like the IF statement in any other language. Its simplest form is shown here:

if (condition) statement;

Here, condition is a Boolean expression. If condition is true, then the statement is executed. If condition is false, then ...