Understanding Decision Making in C: Control Flow and Logic

Explore the concept of decision-making statements in C programming, which enable you to control the flow of your program based on specific conditions. Learn how these statements facilitate the creation of complex algorithms and the handling of various scenarios.

C - Decision Making

In C, decision-making statements allow you to control the flow of your program based on conditions. These statements help you create complex algorithms and handle different scenarios.

There are three main types of logic in programming:

• Sequential logic
• Decision or branching
• Repetition or iteration

Decision-making structures include:

• if statement
• if...else statement
• nested if statements
• switch statement
• nested switch statements

1. If Statement

The if statement makes decisions based on a boolean expression.

if (condition) {
// code to execute if condition is true
}

[Output here]

2. If...else Statement

The if...else statement provides an alternative path if the condition is false.

if (condition) {
// code to execute if condition is true
} else {
// code to execute if condition is false
}

[Output here]

3. Nested If Statements

Nested if statements allow for complex decision-making by embedding if statements within other if statements.

if (condition1) {
if (condition2) {
// code to execute if both conditions are true
}
}

[Output here]

4. Switch Statement

The switch statement evaluates a variable against multiple values.

switch (expression) {
case value1:
// code for value1
break;
case value2:
// code for value2
break;
default:
// default code
}

[Output here]

5. Ternary Operator

The ?: operator condenses if...else into a single line.

condition ? expression1 : expression2;

[Output here]

6. Break Statement

The break statement exits loops or switch statements.

break;

[Output here]

7. Continue Statement

The continue statement skips to the next iteration of a loop.

continue;

[Output here]

8. Goto Statement

The goto statement directs the program flow to a labeled statement.

goto label;
...
label: statement;

[Output here]

This chapter provides an overview of decision-making statements in C. Subsequent chapters will dive deeper into each statement with examples.