Java Student Project         

• How to use the decision structure
• How to use an if statement
• How to use an if...else statement
• How to use compound statements in an if or if...else structure
• How to next if statements 

• Java Software
• Textbook

You can place and indent the if following an else, but a program with many nested if…else combinations soon grows very long and “deep,” and with indentations, later statements in the nest would move farther and farther to the right on the page.  For easier-to-read code, Java programmers constantly place each else and it’s subsequent if on the same line.

Remember that you reference character values using single quotation marks.

Indentations in the if...else are not required, but is standard usage. You vertically align the keyword if the keyword else, and then indent the action statements that depend on the evaluation.

You can code an if without an else, but it is illegal to code an else without an if.

When you create a block, you do not have to place multiple statements within it. It is perfectly legal to block a single statement.

An if statement ends with a semicolon.

Making a decision involves choosing between two alternative courses of action based on some value within a program.

You can use the if statement to make a decision based on a boolean expression that evaluates as true or false. If the boolean expression enclosed in parentheses within an if statement is true, then the subsequent statement or block will execute.

Within an if or an else statement, you can code as many dependent statements as you need, including other if and else statements. Nested if statements are particularly useful when two conditions must be met before some action occurs.