CHAPTER 3

Decision
Structures

Copyright © 2016 Pearson Education, Ltd.

 Chapter Topics
Chapter 3 discusses the following main topics:
– The if Statement
– The if-else Statement
– Nested if statements
– The if-else-if Statement
– Logical Operators
– Comparing String Objects

©2016 Pearson Education, Ltd. 3-2

 Chapter Topics
Chapter 3 discusses the following main topics:
– More about Variable Declaration and Scope
– The Conditional Operator
– The switch Statement
– Displaying Formatted Output with
System.out.printf and String.format

©2016 Pearson Education, Ltd. 3-3

 The if Statement
• The if statement decides whether a section of
code executes or not.
• The if statement uses a boolean to decide
whether the next statement or block of
statements executes.

if (boolean expression is true)

execute next statement.

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 Flowcharts
• If statements can be modeled as a flow chart.

if (coldOutside) Is it cold Yes

wearCoat(); outside?

Wear a coat.

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 Flowcharts
• A block if statement may be modeled as:

if (coldOutside)
{ Is it cold Yes
wearCoat(); outside?
wearHat(); Wear a coat.
wearGloves();
Wear a hat.
}
Wear gloves.
Note the use of curly
braces to block several
statements together.

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 Relational Operators
• In most cases, the boolean expression, used by the
if statement, uses relational operators.

Relational Operator Meaning

> is greater than
< is less than
>= is greater than or equal to
<= is less than or equal to
== is equal to
!= is not equal to

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 Boolean Expressions
• A boolean expression is any variable or calculation
that results in a true or false condition.

Expression Meaning
x > y Is x greater than y?
x < y Is x less than y?
x >= y Is x greater than or equal to y?
x <= y Is x less than or equal to y.
x == y Is x equal to y?
x != y Is x not equal to y?

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 if Statements and Boolean
Expressions
if (x > y)
System.out.println("X is greater than Y");

if(x == y)
System.out.println("X is equal to Y");

if(x != y)
{
System.out.println("X is not equal to Y");
x = y;
System.out.println("However, now it is.");
}

Example: AverageScore.java Page115

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 Programming Style and if Statements

• An if statement can span more than one line;

however, it is still one statement.
if (average > 95)
grade = ′A′;

is functionally equivalent to

if(average > 95) grade = ′A′;

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 Programming Style and if Statements
• Rules of thumb:
– The conditionally executed statement should be on
the line after the if condition.
– The conditionally executed statement should be
indented one level from the if condition.
– If an if statement does not have the block curly
braces, it is ended by the first semicolon
encountered after the if condition.
if (expression)
No semicolon here.
statement; Semicolon ends statement here.

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 Block if Statements
• Conditionally executed statements can be grouped
into a block by using curly braces {} to enclose
them.
• If curly braces are used to group conditionally
executed statements, the if statement is ended by
the closing curly brace.
if (expression)
{
statement1;
statement2;
} Curly brace ends the statement.

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 Block if Statements
• Remember that when the curly braces are not used,
then only the next statement after the if condition will
be executed conditionally.
if (expression)
statement1; Only this statement is conditionally executed.
statement2;
statement3;

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 Flags
• A flag is a boolean variable that monitors some
condition in a program.
• When a condition is true, the flag is set to true.
• The flag can be tested to see if the condition has
changed.
if (average > 95)
highScore = true;
• Later, this condition can be tested:
if (highScore)
System.out.println("That′s a high score!");

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 Comparing Characters
• Characters can be tested with relational operators.
• Characters are stored in memory using the Unicode character
format.
• Unicode is stored as a sixteen (16) bit number.
• Characters are ordinal, meaning they have an order in the
Unicode character set.
• Since characters are ordinal, they can be compared to each
other.

char c = ′A′;
if(c < ′Z′)
System.out.println("A is less than Z");

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 if-else Statements
• The if-else statement adds the ability to
conditionally execute code when the if
condition is false.
if (expression)
statementOrBlockIfTrue;
else
statementOrBlockIfFalse;

• See example: Division.java

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 if-else Statement Flowcharts

No Yes
Is it cold
outside?

Wear shorts. Wear a coat.

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 Nested if Statements
• If an if statement appears inside another if
statement (single or block) it is called a nested
if statement.
• The nested if is executed only if the outer if
statement results in a true condition.
• See example: LoanQualifier.java Page 125

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 Nested if Statement Flowcharts

No Yes
Is it cold
outside?

Wear shorts.
No Is it Yes
snowing?

Wear a jacket. Wear a parka.

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 Nested if Statements
if (coldOutside)
{
if (snowing)
{
wearParka();
}
else
{
wearJacket();
}
}
else
{
wearShorts();
}

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 …

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 if-else Matching

• Curly brace use is not required if there is only

one statement to be conditionally executed.
• However, sometimes curly braces can help
make the program more readable.
• Additionally, proper indentation makes it much
easier to match up else statements with their
corresponding if statement.

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 Alignment and Nested if Statements
if (coldOutside)
{
if (snowing)
{
This if and else wearParka();
go together.
This if and else }
go together. else
{
wearJacket();
}
}
else
{
wearShorts();
}

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 if-else-if Statements
if (expression_1)
{
statement; If expression_1 is true these statements are
statement; executed, and the rest of the structure is ignored.
etc.
}
else if (expression_2)
{
statement; Otherwise, if expression_2 is true these statements are
statement;
etc. executed, and the rest of the structure is ignored.
}

Insert as many else if clauses as necessary

else
{
statement;
statement;
These statements are executed if none of the
etc. expressions above are true.
}

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 if-else-if Statements
• Nested if statements can become very
complex.
• The if-else-if statement makes certain types of
nested decision logic simpler to write.
• Care must be used since else statements match up
with the immediately preceding unmatched if
statement.
• See example: TestResults.java Page 130

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 if-else-if Flowchart

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 Logical Operators
• Java provides two binary logical operators (&&
and ||) that are used to combine boolean
expressions.
• Java also provides one unary (!) logical
operator to reverse the truth of a boolean
expression.

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 Logical Operators
Operator Meaning Effect
Connects two boolean expressions into one. Both
&& AND expressions must be true for the overall expression to
be true.
Connects two boolean expressions into one. One or
both expressions must be true for the overall
|| OR
expression to be true. It is only necessary for one to be
true, and it does not matter which one.
The ! operator reverses the truth of a boolean
expression. If it is applied to an expression that is
! NOT
true, the operator returns false. If it is applied to an
expression that is false, the operator returns true.

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 The && Operator
• The logical AND operator (&&) takes two operands that must
both be boolean expressions.
• The resulting combined expression is true if (and only if) both
operands are true.
• See example: LogicalAnd.java Page 139

Expression 1 Expression 2 Expression1 && Expression2

true false false
false true false
false false false
true true true

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…

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 The || Operator
• The logical OR operator (||) takes two operands that
must both be boolean expressions.
• The resulting combined expression is false if (and only
if) both operands are false.
• Example: LogicalOr.java Page 141
Expression 1 Expression 2 Expression1 || Expression2
true false true
false true true
false false false
true true true

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 …

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 The ! Operator
• The ! operator performs a logical NOT operation.
• If an expression is true, !expression will be
false.
if (!(temperature > 100))
System.out.println("Below the maximum temperature.");

• If temperature > 100 evaluates to false, then the output

statement will be run.
Expression 1 !Expression1
true false
false true

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 Short Circuiting
• Logical AND and logical OR operations perform
short-circuit evaluation of expressions.
• Logical AND will evaluate to false as soon as it
sees that one of its operands is a false expression.
• Logical OR will evaluate to true as soon as it sees
that one of its operands is a true expression.

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 Order of Precedence
• The ! operator has a higher order of precedence
than the && and || operators.
• The && and || operators have a lower
precedence than relational operators like < and
>.
• Parenthesis can be used to force the precedence
to be changed.

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 Order of Precedence
Order of
Operators Description
Precedence
1 (unary negation) ! Unary negation, logical NOT
2 * / % Multiplication, Division, Modulus
3 + - Addition, Subtraction
Less-than, Greater-than, Less-than or
4 < > <= >=
equal to, Greater-than or equal to
5 == != Is equal to, Is not equal to
6 && Logical AND
7 || Logical NOT
= += -= Assignment and combined assignment
8
*= /= %= operators.

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 Comparing String Objects
• In most cases, you cannot use the relational operators
to compare two String objects.
• Reference variables contain the address of the object
they represent.
• For example:
String name1 = "Mark";
String name2 = "Mary";
if (name1 == name2) False, Why?

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 Comparing String Objects

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 Comparing String Objects

• Unless the references point to the same object,

the relational operators will not return true.
• See example: StringCompare.java Page 146
• See example: StringCompareTo.java Page 148

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 Ignoring Case in String Comparisons
• In the String class the equals and
compareTo methods are case sensitive.
• In order to compare two String objects that
might have different case, use:
– equalsIgnoreCase, or
– compareToIgnoreCase
• See example: SecretWord.java Page 150

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 …

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 Variable Scope
• In Java, a local variable does not have to be declared at
the beginning of the method.
• The scope of a local variable begins at the point it is
declared and terminates at the end of the method.
• When a program enters a section of code where a
variable has scope, that variable has come into scope,
which means the variable is visible to the program.
• See example: VariableScope.java

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 The Conditional Operator
• The conditional operator is a ternary (three
operand) operator.
• You can use the conditional operator to write a
simple statement that works like an if-else
statement.

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 The Conditional Operator
• The format of the operators is:

BooleanExpression ? Value1 : Value2

• This forms a conditional expression.

• If BooleanExpression is true, the value of the
conditional expression is Value1.
• If BooleanExpression is false, the value of the
conditional expression is Value2.

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 The Conditional Operator
• Example:
z = x > y ? 10 : 5;
• This line is functionally equivalent to:
if(x > y)
z = 10;
else
z = 5;

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 The Conditional Operator
• Many times the conditional operator is used to
supply a value.
number = x > y ? 10 : 5;

• This is functionally equivalent to:

if(x > y)
number = 10;
else
number = 5;

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 The Conditional Operator
• Example:
System.out.println("Your grade is: " + (score < 60 ? "Fail." : "Pass."));

• Converted to an if-else statement, it would be

written as follows:
if (score < 60)
System.out.println("Your grade is: Fail.");
else
System.out.println("Your grade is: Pass.");

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 The switch Statement
• The if-else statement allows you to make
true / false branches.
• The switch statement allows you to use an
ordinal value to determine how a program will
branch.
• The switch statement can evaluate an integer
type or character type variable and make
decisions based on the value.

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 The switch Statement
• The switch statement takes the form:
switch (SwitchExpression)
{
case CaseExpression:
// place one or more statements here
break;
case CaseExpression:
// place one or more statements here
break;

// case statements may be repeated

//as many times as necessary
default:
// place one or more statements here
}
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 The switch Statement
switch (SwitchExpression)
{
…
}

• The switch statement will evaluate the SwitchExpression,

which can be a byte, short, int, long, or char. If you are
using Java 7, the SwitchExpression can also be a string.

• If there is an associated case statement that matches that value,

program execution will be transferred to that case statement.

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 The switch Statement
• Each case statement will have a corresponding
CaseExpression that must be unique.

case CaseExpression:
// place one or more statements here
break;

• If the SwitchExpression matches the CaseExpression,

the Java statements between the colon and the break
statement will be executed.

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 The case Statement
• The break statement ends the case statement.
• The break statement is optional.
• If a case does not contain a break, then program
execution continues into the next case.
– See example: NoBreaks.java
– See example: PetFood.java
• The default section is optional and will be executed
if no CaseExpression matches the SwitchExpression.
• See example: SwitchDemo.java

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 The System.out.printf Method
• You can use the System.out.printf
method to perform formatted console output.
• The general format of the method is:
System.out.printf(FormatString, ArgList);

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 The System.out.printf Method

System.out.printf(FormatString, ArgList);

FormatString is ArgList is optional. It is a

a string that list of additional arguments
contains text and/or that will be formatted
special formatting according to the format
specifiers. specifiers listed in the
format string.

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 The System.out.printf Method

• A simple example:
System.out.printf("Hello World\n");

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 The System.out.printf Method

• Another example:
int hours = 40;
System.out.printf("I worked %d hours.\n", hours);

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 The System.out.printf Method

int hours = 40;

System.out.printf("I worked %d hours.\n", hours);

The %d format specifier indicates The contents of the hours

that a decimal integer will be variable will be printed in the
printed. location of the %d format
specifier.

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 The System.out.printf Method

• Another example:
int dogs = 2, cats = 4;
System.out.printf("We have %d dogs and %d cats.\n",
dogs, cats);

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 The System.out.printf Method

• Another example:
double grossPay = 874.12;
System.out.printf("Your pay is %f.\n", grossPay);

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 The System.out.printf Method

• Another example:
double grossPay = 874.12;
System.out.printf("Your pay is %f.\n", grossPay);

The %f format specifier indicates The contents of the grossPay

that a floating-point value will be variable will be printed in the
printed. location of the %f format
specifier.

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 The System.out.printf Method

• Another example:
double grossPay = 874.12;
System.out.printf("Your pay is %.2f.\n", grossPay);

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 The System.out.printf Method

• Another example:
double grossPay = 874.12;
System.out.printf("Your pay is %.2f.\n", grossPay);

The %.2f format specifier indicates that a

floating-point value will be printed, rounded to
two decimal places.

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 The System.out.printf Method

• Another example:
double grossPay = 5874.127;
System.out.printf("Your pay is %,.2f.\n", grossPay);

The %,.2f format specifier

indicates that a floating-
point value will be printed
with comma separators,
rounded to two decimal
places.

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 The System.out.printf Method

• Another example:
String name = "Ringo";
System.out.printf("Your name is %s.\n", name);

The %s format specifier

indicates that a string will be
printed.

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 The System.out.printf Method

• Specifying a field width:

int number = 9;
System.out.printf("The value is %6d\n", number);

The %6d format

specifier indicates
the integer will
appear in a field
that is 6 spaces
wide.

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 The System.out.printf Method

• Another example:
double number = 9.76891;
System.out.printf("The value is %6.2f\n", number);

The %6.2f format specifier

indicates the number will
appear in a field that is 6
spaces wide, and be rounded
to 2 decimal places.

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 The System.out.printf Method

• See examples:
– Columns.java
– CurrencyFormat.java

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 The String.format Method
• The String.format method works exactly
like the System.out.printf method,
except that it does not display the formatted
string on the screen.
• Instead, it returns a reference to the formatted
string.
• You can assign the reference to a variable, and
then use it later.

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 The String.format Method

• The general format of the method is:

String.format(FormatString,ArgumentList);

FormatString is ArgumentList is
a string that optional. It is a list of
contains text and/or additional arguments that
special formatting will be formatted according
specifiers. to the format specifiers
listed in the format string.
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 The String.format Method

• See examples:
– CurrencyFormat2.java
– CurrencyFormat3.java

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