Decision Making Statements in Java – A Beginner-Friendly Guide

When learning Java, writing programs is not just about executing code line by line.
Sometimes, a program needs to make decisions based on certain conditions.
This is where decision making statements come into play.

In this blog, I’ll explain the decision making statements in Java with simple explanations and examples suitable for beginners.

🔹 What Are Decision Making Statements?

Decision making statements allow a program to choose different paths of execution based on conditions.
These conditions usually return either true or false.

Java provides several decision making statements to control the flow of execution.

🔹 Types of Decision Making Statements in Java

1️⃣ if Statement

The if statement executes a block of code only when the condition is true.

Syntax:

if (condition) {
    // code executes if condition is true
}

Example:

int age = 20;

if (age >= 18) {
    System.out.println("Eligible to vote");
}

2️⃣ else Statement

The else statement executes code only if the condition is false.

Syntax:

if (condition) {
    // true block
} else {
    // false block
}

Example:

int number = 5;

if (number % 2 == 0) {
    System.out.println("Even number");
} else {
    System.out.println("Odd number");
}

3️⃣ else–if Statement

This is used when multiple conditions need to be checked.

Syntax:

if (condition1) {
    // code
} else if (condition2) {
    // code
} else {
    // default code
}

Example:

int marks = 75;

if (marks >= 90) {
    System.out.println("Grade A");
} else if (marks >= 75) {
    System.out.println("Grade B");
} else {
    System.out.println("Grade C");
}