• Just as was the case with Perl yesterday, Java provides several methods to control flow. Fortunately, control flow works exactly the same way in Java as it works in Perl, so we don't have to learn too many new things in this section.

• The following list should remind you of the flow control structures available in Perl which are also available in Java
  • if / else if / else

    
    if (age == 28)
    
      {
    
      System.out.println("You are 28!");
    
      }
    
    else if (age == 29)
    
      {
    
      System.out.println("You are 29!");
    
      }
    
    else
    
      {
    
      System.out.println("You're neither!");
    
      }
    

  • while

    
    while (x <=100)
    
      {
    
      X++
    
      System.out.println("x is: " x);
    
      }
    
    // In a while loop, the action is
    // performed only if the test is true.
    // An interesting alternative is
    // the do / while loop that performs
    // the action "before" testing.
    
    

  • for

    
    for (int x = 100;X >=0;x--)
    
      {
    
      System.out.println("x is: " x);
    
      }
    

Testing a Condition

• Again, just as in Perl, we can use the ==, !=, >, >=, <, <= operators to test equality. Further, we can use the && and || operators to perform multiple tests. Consider the following:

  (8 > 2) && (2 == 3) // Returns false because
  		     // one is false
  
  (8 >= 2) || (2 == 3) // Returns true because
      		     // at least one is true.
  		     // Notice that the second
  		     // test is short circuited
  		     // by the true result in
  		     // the first.
  
  

The Switch Statement

• However, Java does not stop there. Java introduces another control structure called the switch statement. The switch statement allows you to input a single variable and test for multiple values. Consider the following example

  switch (input)
    {
    case 1;
      {
      System.out.println("You entered a 1");
      break;
      }
    case 2;
      {
      System.out.println("You entered a 2");
      break;
      }
    case 3;
      {
      System.out.println("You entered a 3");
      break;
      }
    }
  

Breaks

• As you can see, Java also provides a break statement that allows you to break out of a loop.