In this part of the Java tutorial, we will talk about program flow control. We will use several keywords that enable us to control the flow of a Java program.

Java control flow statements

In Java language there are several keywords that are used to alter the flow of the program. Statements can be executed multiple times or only under a specific condition. The if, else, and switch statements are used for testing conditions, the while and for statements to create cycles, and the break and continue statements to alter a loop.

When the program is run, the statements are executed from the top of the source file to the bottom. One by one.

Java if statement

The if statement has the following general form:

if (expression) {

    statement;
}

The if keyword is used to check if an expression is true. If it is true, a statement is then executed. The statement can be a single statement or a compound statement. A compound statement consists of multiple statements enclosed by a block. A block is code enclosed by curly brackets. The brackets are optional if we have only one statement in the body.

package com.zetcode;

import java.util.Random;

public class IfStatement {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        Random r = new Random();
        int num = r.nextInt();

        if (num > 0) {

            System.out.println("The number is positive");
        }
    }
}

A random number is generated. If the number is greater than zero, we print a message to the terminal.

Random r = new Random();
int num = r.nextInt();

These two lines generate a random integer. The number can be positive or negative.

if (num > 0) {

    System.out.println("The number is positive");
}

Using the if keyword, we check if the generated number is greater than zero. The if keyword is followed by a pair of round brackets. Inside the brackets, we place an expression. The expression results in a boolean value. If the boolean value is true, then the block enclosed by two curly brackets is executed. In our case, the string "The number is positive" is printed to the terminal. If the random value is negative, nothing is done. The curly brackets are optional if we have only one expression.

Java else keyword

We can use the else keyword to create a simple branch. If the expression inside the square brackets following the if keyword evaluates to false, the statement following the else keyword is automatically executed.

package com.zetcode;

import java.util.Random;

public class Branch {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        Random r = new Random();
        int num = r.nextInt();

        if (num > 0) {

            System.out.println("The number is positive");

        } else {

            System.out.println("The number is negative");
        }
    }
}

Either the block following the if keyword or the block following the else keyword is executed.

if (num > 0) {

    System.out.println("The number is positive");

} else {

    System.out.println("The number is negative");
}

The else keyword follows the right curly bracket of the if block. It has its own block enclosed by a pair of curly brackets.

$ java com.zetcode.Branch
The number is positive
$ java com.zetcode.Branch
The number is negative
$ java com.zetcode.Branch
The number is negative

We run the example three times. This is a sample output.

Multiple branches with if else

We can create multiple branches using the else if keyword. The else if keyword tests for another condition if and only if the previous condition was not met. Note that we can use multiple else if keywords in our tests.

The previous program had a slight issue. Zero was given to negative values. The following program will fix this.

package com.zetcode;

import java.util.Scanner;

public class MultipleBranches {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        System.out.print("Enter an integer:");

        Scanner sc = new Scanner(System.in);
        int num = sc.nextInt();

        if (num < 0) {

            System.out.println("The integer is negative");
        } else if (num == 0) {

            System.out.println("The integer equals to zero");
        } else {

            System.out.println("The integer is positive");
        }
    }
}

We receive a value from the user test it if it is a negative number or positive, or if it equals to zero.

System.out.print("Enter an integer:");

A prompt to enter an integer is written to the standard output.

Scanner sc = new Scanner(System.in);
int num = sc.nextInt();

Using the Scanner class of the java.util package, we read an integer value from the standard input.

if (num < 0) {

    System.out.println("The integer is negative");
} else if (num == 0) {

    System.out.println("The integer equals to zero");
} else {

    System.out.println("The integer is positive");
}

If the first condition evaluates to true, e.g. the entered value is less than zero, the first block is executed and the remaining two blocks are skipped. If the first condition is not met, then the second condition following the if else keywords is checked. If the second condition evaluates to true, the second block is executed. If not, the third block following the else keyword is executed. The else block is always executed if the previous conditions were not met.

$ java com.zetcode.MultipleBranches
Enter an integer:4
The integer is positive
$ java com.zetcode.MultipleBranches
Enter an integer:0
The integer equals to zero
$ java com.zetcode.MultipleBranches
Enter an integer:-3
The integer is negative

We run the example three times so that all conditions are tested. The zero is correctly handled.

Java switch statement

The switch statement is a selection control flow statement. It allows the value of a variable or expression to control the flow of a program execution via a multi-way branch. It creates multiple branches in a simpler way than using the combination of if and else if statements. Each branch is ended with the break keyword.

We use a variable or an expression. The switch keyword is used to test a value from the variable or the expression against a list of values. The list of values is presented with the case keyword. If the values match, the statement following the case is executed. There is an optional default statement. It is executed if no other match is found.

package com.zetcode;

import java.util.Scanner;

public class SwitchStatement {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        System.out.print("Enter a domain:");

        Scanner sc = new Scanner(System.in);
        String domain = sc.nextLine();

        domain = domain.trim().toLowerCase();

        switch (domain) {

            case "us":
                System.out.println("United States");
                break;

            case "de":
                System.out.println("Germany");
                break;

            case "sk":
                System.out.println("Slovakia");
                break;

            case "hu":
                System.out.println("Hungary");
                break;

            default:
                System.out.println("Unknown");
                break;
        }
    }
}

The user is requested to enter a domain name. The domain name is read and stored in a variable. The variable is tested with the switch keyword against a list of options. In our program, we have a domain variable. We read a value for the variable from the command line. We use the case statement to test for the value of the variable. There are several options. If the value equals for example to "us", the "United States" string is printed to the console.

Scanner sc = new Scanner(System.in);
String domain = sc.nextLine();

The input from the user is read from the console.

domain = domain.trim().toLowerCase();

The trim() method strips the variable from potential leading and trailing white spaces. The toLowerCase() converts the characters to lowercase. Now the "us", "US", or "us " are viable options for the us domain name.

switch (domain) {
    ...
}

In the round brackets, the switch keyword takes an input which is going to be tested. The input can be of byte, short, char, int, enum, or String data type. The body of the switch keyword is placed inside a pair or curly brackets. Inside the body, we can place multiple case options. Each option is ended with the break keyword.

case "us":
    System.out.println("United States");
    break;

In this case option, we test if the domain variable is equal to "us" string. If true, we print a message to the console. The option is ended with the break keyword. If one of the options is successfully evaluated, the break keyword terminates the switch block.

default:
    System.out.println("Unknown");
    break;

The default keyword is optional. If none of the case options is evaluated, then the default section is executed.

$ java com.zetcode.SwitchStatement
Enter a domain:us
United States

This is a sample output.

Java switch expression

Java switch expression simpplyfies the original switch statement. It was introduced in Java 12 and enhanced in Java 13.

Java switch expressions support using multiple case labels. They can return values via yield keyword.

package com.zetcode;

import java.util.Scanner;

public class SwitchExpression {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        System.out.print("Enter a domain:");

        Scanner sc = new Scanner(System.in);
        String domain = sc.nextLine();

        domain = domain.trim().toLowerCase();

        switch (domain) {

            case "us" -> System.out.println("United States");
            case "de" -> System.out.println("Germany");
            case "sk" -> System.out.println("Slovakia");
            case "hu" -> System.out.println("Hungary");
            default -> System.out.println("Unknown");
        }
    }
}

The previous switch statement example is rewritten using switch expression.

Java while statement

The while statement is a control flow statement that allows code to be executed repeatedly based on a given boolean condition.

This is the general form of the while loop:

while (expression) {

    statement;
}

The while keyword executes the statements inside the block enclosed by the curly brackets. The statements are executed each time the expression is evaluated to true.

package com.zetcode;

public class WhileStatement {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        int i = 0;
        int sum = 0;

        while (i < 10) {

            i++;
            sum += i;
        }

        System.out.println(sum);
    }
}

In the code example, we calculate the sum of values from a range of numbers.

The while loop has three parts: initialization, testing, and updating. Each execution of the statement is called a cycle.

int i = 0;

We initiate the i variable. It is used as a counter.

while (i < 10) {
    ...
}

The expression inside the round brackets following the while keyword is the second phase, the testing. The statements in the body are executed until the expression is evaluated to false.

i++;

The last phase of the while loop is the updating. We increment the counter. Note that improper handling of the while loops may lead to endless cycles.

$ java com.zetcode.WhileStatement
55

The program calculated the sum of 0, 1, ..., 9 values.

There is a modified version of the while statement. It is the do while statement. It is guaranteed that the statements inside the block are run at least once, even if the condition is not met.

package com.zetcode;

public class DoWhile {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        int count = 0;

        do {
            System.out.println(count);
        } while (count != 0);
    }
}

First the block is executed and then the truth expression is evaluated. In our case, the condition is not met and the do while statement terminates.

Java for statement

When the number of cycles is know before the loop is initiated, we can use the for statement. In this construct we declare a counter variable, which is automatically increased or decreased in value during each repetition of the loop.

package com.zetcode;

public class ForStatement {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {

            System.out.println(i);
        }
    }
}

In this example, we print numbers 0..9 to the console.

for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {

    System.out.println(i);
}

There are three phases in a for loop. First, we initiate the counter i to zero. This phase is done only once. Next comes the condition. If the condition is met, the statement inside the for block is executed. Then comes the third phase: the counter is increased. Now we repeat 2 and 3 phases until the condition is not met and the for loop is terminated. In our case, when the counter i is equal to 10, the for loop stops executing.

A for loop can be used for easy traversal of an array. From the length property of the array, we know the size of the array.

package com.zetcode;

public class ForStatement2 {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        String[] planets = {"Mercury", "Venus", "Earth",
            "Mars", "Jupiter", "Saturn", "Uranus", "Pluto"};

        for (int i = 0; i < planets.length; i++) {

            System.out.println(planets[i]);
        }

        System.out.println("In reverse:");

        for (int i = planets.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {

            System.out.println(planets[i]);
        }
    }
}

We have an array holding the names of planets in our Solar System. Using two for loops, we print the values in ascending and descending orders.

for (int i = 0; i < planets.length; i++) {

    System.out.println(planets[i]);
}

The arrays are accessed by zero-based indexing. The first item has index 0. Therefore, the i variable is initialized to zero. The condition checks if the i variable is less than the length of the array. In the final phase, the i variable is incremented.

for (int i = planets.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {

    System.out.println(planets[i]);
}

This for loop prints the elements of the array in reverse order. The i counter is initialized to array size. Since the indexing is zero based, the last element has index array size-1. The condition ensures that the counter is greater or equal to zero. (Array indexes cannot be negative). In the third step, the i counter is decremented by one.

More expressions can be placed in the initialization and iteration phase of the for loop.

package com.zetcode;

import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.Random;

public class ForStatement3 {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        Random r = new Random();

        int[] values = new int[10];
        int num;
        int sum=0;

        for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++, sum += num) {

            num = r.nextInt(10);
            values[i] = num;
        }

        System.out.println(Arrays.toString(values));
        System.out.println("The sum of the values is " + sum);
    }
}

In our example, we create an array of ten random numbers. A sum of the numbers is calculated.

for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++, sum += num) {

    num = r.nextInt(10);
    values[i] = num;
}

In the third part of the for loop, we have two expressions separated by a comma character. The i counter is incremented and the current number is added to the sum variable.

$ java com.zetcode.ForStatement3
[1, 9, 2, 9, 0, 9, 8, 5, 5, 3]
The sum of the values is 51

This is sample execution of the program.

Java enhanced for statement

The enhanced for statement simplifies traversing over collections of data. It has no explicit counter. The statement goes through an array or a collection one by one and the current value is copied to a variable defined in the construct.

package com.zetcode;

public class EnhancedFor {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        String[] planets = {
            "Mercury", "Venus", "Earth",
            "Mars", "Jupiter", "Saturn", "Uranus", "Pluto"
        };

        for (String planet : planets) {

            System.out.println(planet);
        }
    }
}

In this example, we use the enhanced for statement to go through an array of planets.

for (String planet : planets) {

    System.out.println(planet);
}

The usage of the for statement is straightforward. The planets is the array that we iterate through. A planet is the temporary variable that has the current value from the array. The for statement goes through all the planets and prints them to the console.

$ java com.zetcode.EnhancedFor
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Pluto

Running the above Java program gives this output.

Java break statement

The break statement can be used to terminate a block defined by while, for, or switch statements.

package com.zetcode;

import java.util.Random;

public class BreakStatement {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        Random random = new Random();

        while (true) {

            int num = random.nextInt(30);
            System.out.print(num + " ");

            if (num == 22) {

                break;
            }
        }

        System.out.print('\n');
    }
}

We define an endless while loop. We use the break statement to get out of this loop. We choose a random value from 1 to 30 and print it. If the value equals to 22, we finish the endless while loop.

while (true) {
    ...
}

Placing true in the brackets of the while statement creates an endless loop. We must terminate the loop ourselves. Note that such code is error-prone. We should be careful using such loops.

if (num == 22) {

    break;
}

When the randomly chosen value is equal to 22, the break statement is executed and the while loop is terminated.

$ java com.zetcode.BreakStatement
23 12 0 4 13 16 6 12 11 9 24 23 23 19 15 26 3 3 27 28 25 3 3 25 6 22
$ java com.zetcode.BreakStatement
23 19 29 27 3 28 2 2 26 0 0 24 17 4 7 12 8 20 22
$ java com.zetcode.BreakStatement
15 20 10 25 2 19 26 4 13 21 15 21 21 24 3 22

Here we see three sample executions of the program.

Java continue statement

The continue statement is used to skip a part of the loop and continue with the next iteration of the loop. It can be used in combination with for and while statements.

In the following example, we will print a list of numbers that cannot be divided by 2 without a remainder.

package com.zetcode;

public class ContinueStatement {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        int num = 0;

        while (num < 100) {

            num++;

            if ((num % 2) == 0) {
                continue;
            }

            System.out.print(num + " ");
        }

        System.out.print('\n');
    }
}

We iterate through numbers 1..99 with the while loop.

if ((num % 2) == 0) {
    continue;
}

If the expression num % 2 returns 0, the number in question can be divided by 2. The continue statement is executed and the rest of the cycle is skipped. In our case, the last statement of the loop is skipped and the number is not printed to the console. The next iteration is started.

In this part of the Java tutorial, we were talking about control flow structures. We have covered if, if else, else, while, switch, for, break, continue statements.