# 1.3.2 Basic If/Else Statements

Conditional Statements in C++ work exactly the same as Java and similar to other languages:

```
if (condition) {
    // Statements if true
}
else {
    // Statements if false
}
```

### If Statements

If statements only execute code if the condition is true, otherwise it skips that block of code.

```
int score = 80;
if (score > 75) {
    // Prints because score is greater than 75
    cout << "Score is greater than 75" << endl;
} 
```

### Else Statement

Else statements only execute when the `if` condition is false. With an `if`/`else` combination, one of the coding blocks will always execute, but never both.

```
int score = 80;
if (score > 85) {
    // Skips this block
    cout << "Score is greater than 85" << endl;
}
else {
    // Executes this block
    cout << "Score is not greater than 85" << endl;
}
```

### Else If Statements

With an `else if` clause, the code will evaluate the `else if` clause only when the previous if statements are negative. If it evaluates to true, the coding block will be executed.

```
int score = 80;
if (score >= 82) {
    // Doesn't execute this block
    cout << "Score is greater than or equal to 82" << endl;
}
else if (score > 78) {
    // Executes this block of code
    cout << "Score is not greater than 78 but less than 82" << endl;
} 
else {
    // Skips this block since the above section was true
    cout << "Score is not greater than 78" << endl;
}
```

### Summary

Below is a summary of the options you can use with `if` statements.

| Clause                | Use                                                                                           |
| --------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `if (condition)`      | Required to start conditional block and can only have one                                     |
| `else if (condition)` | Optional and can have as many as needed; Follows `if` statement and before `else` clause      |
| `else`                | Optional and can have only one; must be the last clause and contain no conditional statement. |

### Try This Example

{% embed url="<https://onlinegdb.com/eG-eHExO>\_" %}
Basic If/Else Statements
{% endembed %}