C If – Syntax & Examples

C If statement

C If statement lets programmers to execute a block of statements based on a condition. Condition is a boolean expression which evaluates to either true or false.

Syntax of C If Statement

The syntax of If statement in C language is given below.

if (condition) {
  //statement(s)
}

where

if is C builtin keyword.

condition is a boolean value or an expression that evaluates to boolean value. The condition is generally formed using comparison operators and logical operators.

() parenthesis around the condition is mandatory.

statement(s) is a set of statements. This block of statement(s) is also called if block. You can have none, one or multiple statements inside if block.

{} flower braces wrap around if block statement(s). These are optional only in case that there is only one statement inside if block. Otherwise, these braces are mandatory.

Flow Diagram of C IF Statement

Following diagram represents the flow of execution for a C if statement.

The if-statement execution starts with evaluating the condition. If the condition evaluates to true, the program executes the statement(s) inside if block. But, if the condition evaluates to false, the if-statement execution is completed, and the program continues with the execution of subsequent statements present after if-statement.

Example for C If Statement

We already know that C If statement is a decision making statement. It contains a condition based on which a decision is made whether to execute statement(s) inside if block or not.

In the following program, we have a condition that checks whether the number is even. If the number is even, then we shall print a message to the console that the number is even.

C Program

#include <stdio.h>

void main() {
    int a;

    printf("Enter Number : ");
    scanf("%d", &a);
    
    if (a%2 == 0) {
        printf("You entered an even number");
    }
    
}

Here the condition is a%2 == 0. It is a boolean expression and it evaluates to either true or false. If it is true, then the print statement inside if block is executed.

Output

Conclusion

In this C Tutorial, we learned what an If statement is in C programming language, how its execution happens, and how it works with an example program.