It is common to make a series of tests on a value, where the else part contains only another if statement.

Java Notes

'if' Statement - 'else if' style

Series of tests

It is common to make a series of tests on a value, where the else part contains only another if statement. If you use indentation for the else part, it isn't easy to see that these are really a series of tests which are similar. It is better to write them at the same indentation level by writing the if on the same line as the else.

Example -- series of tests

This code is correctly indented, but ugly and hard to read. It also can go very far to the right if there are many tests.

   if (score < 35)
      g.setColor(Color.magenta);
   else
      if (score < 50)
         g.setColor(Color.red);
      else
         if (score < 60)
            g.setColor(Color.orange);
         else 
            if (score < 80)
               g.setColor(Color.yellow);
            else
               g.setColor(Color.green);

Example -- using 'else if' style

Here is the same example, using a style of writing the if immediately after the else. This is a common exception to the indenting rules, because it results in much more readable programs:

if (score < 35)
  g.setColor(Color.magenta);
else if (score < 50)
  g.setColor(Color.red);
else if (score < 60)
  g.setColor(Color.orange);
else if (score < 80)
  g.setColor(Color.yellow);
else
  g.setColor(Color.green);

Complaint

Some programming languages recognize this as a common kind structured-programming construction, and have a special 'elseif' statement. This would be a nice thing to add to Java.

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