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if statement

Conditionally executes another statement.

Used where code needs to be executed based on a run-time or compile-time condition.

Syntax

attr(optional) `if` `(` condition `)` statement-true		(until C++17)
attr(optional) `if` `(` condition `)` statement-true `else` statement-false		(until C++17)
attr(optional) `if` `constexpr`(optional) `(` init-statement(optional) condition `)` statement-true		(since C++17)
attr(optional) `if` `constexpr`(optional) `(` init-statement(optional) condition `)` statement-true `else` statement-false		(since C++17)

attr(C++11)	-	any number of attributes
condition	-	one of expression which is contextually convertible to bool declaration of a single non-array variable with a brace-or-equals initializer.
init-statement(C++17)	-	either an expression statement (which may be a null statement "`;`") a simple declaration, typically a declaration of a variable with initializer, but it may declare arbitrary many variables or be a decomposition declaration Note that any init-statement must end with a semicolon `;`, which is why it is often described informally as an expression or a declaration followed by a semicolon.
statement-true	-	any statement (often a compound statement), which is executed if condition evaluates to `true`
statement-false	-	any statement (often a compound statement), which is executed if condition evaluates to `false`

Explanation

If the condition yields true after conversion to bool, statement-true is executed.

If the else part of the if statement is present and condition yields false after conversion to bool, statement-false is executed.

In the second form of if statement (the one including else), if statement-true is also an if statement then that inner if statement must contain an else part as well (in other words, in nested if-statements, the else is associated with the closest if that doesn't have an else).

#include <iostream>
 
int main() {
    // simple if-statement with an else clause
    int i = 2;
    if (i > 2) {
        std::cout << i << " is greater than 2\n";
    } else {
        std::cout << i << " is not greater than 2\n";
    }
 
    // nested if-statement
    int j = 1;
    if (i > 1)
        if (j > 2)
            std::cout << i << " > 1 and " << j << " > 2\n";
        else // this else is part of if (j > 2), not of if (i > 1)
            std::cout << i << " > 1 and " << j << " <= 2\n";
 
   // declarations can be used as conditions with dynamic_cast
   struct Base {
        virtual ~Base() {}
   };
   struct Derived : Base {
       void df() { std::cout << "df()\n"; }
   };
   Base* bp1 = new Base;
   Base* bp2 = new Derived;
 
   if (Derived* p = dynamic_cast<Derived*>(bp1)) // cast fails, returns nullptr
       p->df();  // not executed
 
   if (auto p = dynamic_cast<Derived*>(bp2)) // cast succeeds
       p->df();  // executed
}

Output:

2 is not greater than 2
2 > 1 and 1 <= 2
df()

If Statements with Initializer

If init-statement is used, the if statement is equivalent to.

{

init_statement

if constexpr(optional) ( condition )
statement-true

}

or.

{

init_statement

if constexpr(optional) ( condition )
statement-true

else statement-false

}

Except that names declared by the init-statement (if init-statement is a declaration) and names declared by condition (if condition is a declaration) are in the same scope, which is also the scope of both statements.

std::map<int, std::string> m;
std::mutex mx;
extern bool shared_flag; // guarded by mx
int demo() {
   if (auto it = m.find(10); it != m.end()) { return it->second.size(); }
   if (char buf[10]; std::fgets(buf, 10, stdin)) { m[0] += buf; }
   if (std::lock_guard lock(mx); shared_flag) { unsafe_ping(); shared_flag = false; }
   if (int s; int count = ReadBytesWithSignal(&s)) { publish(count); raise(s); }
   if (auto keywords = {"if", "for", "while"};
       std::any_of(keywords.begin(), keywords.end(),
                   [&s](const char* kw) { return s == kw; })) {
     std::cerr << "Token must not be a keyword\n";
   }
}

(since C++17)

Constexpr If

The statement that begins with if constexpr is known as the constexpr if statement.

In a constexpr if statement, the value of condition must be a contextually converted constant expression of type bool. If the value is true, then statement-false is discarded (if present), otherwise, statement-true is discarded.

The return statements in a discarded statement do not participate in function return type deduction:

template <typename T>
auto get_value(T t) {
    if constexpr (std::is_pointer_v<T>)
        return *t; // deduces return type to int for T = int*
    else
        return t;  // deduces return type to int for T = int
}

The discarded statement can odr-use a variable that is not defined.

extern int x; // no definition of x required
int f() {
if constexpr (true)
    return 0;
else if (x)
    return x;
else
    return -x;
}

If a constexpr if statement appears inside a templated entity, and if condition is not value-dependent after instantiation, the discarded statement is not instantiated when the enclosing template is instantiated .

template<typename T, typename ... Rest>
void g(T&& p, Rest&& ...rs) {
    // ... handle p
    if constexpr (sizeof...(rs) > 0)
        g(rs...); // never instantiated with an empty argument list.
}

Outside a template, a discarded statement is fully checked. if constexpr is not a substitute for the #if preprocessing directive:

void f() {
    if constexpr(false) {
        int i = 0;
        int *p = i; // Error even though in discarded statement
    }
}

Note: an example where the condition remains value-dependent after instantiation is a nested template, e.g.

template<class T> void g() {
    auto lm = [](auto p) {
        if constexpr (sizeof(T) == 1 && sizeof p == 1) {
           // this condition remains value-dependent after instantiation of g<T>
        }
    };
}

Note: the discarded statement can't be ill-formed for every possible specialization:

template <typename T>
void f() {
     if constexpr (std::is_arithmetic_v<T>)
         // ...
     else
       static_assert(false, "Must be arithmetic"); // ill-formed: invalid for every T
}

The common workaround for such a catch-all statement is a type-dependent expression that is always false:

template<class T> struct dependent_false : std::false_type {};
template <typename T>
void f() {
     if constexpr (std::is_arithmetic_v<T>)
         // ...
     else
       static_assert(dependent_false<T>::value, "Must be arithmetic"); // ok
}

Labels (goto targets, case labels, and default:) appearing in a substatement of a constexpr if can only be referenced (by switch or goto) in the same substatement.

(since C++17)

Notes

If statement_true or statement_false is not a compound statement, it is treated as if it were:

if (x)
    int i;
// i is no longer in scope

is the same as.

if (x) {
    int i;
} // i is no longer in scope

The scope of the name introduced by condition, if it is a declaration, is the combined scope of both statements' bodies:

if (int x = f()) {
    int x; // error: redeclaration of x
} else {
    int x; // error: redeclaration of x
}

If statement-true is entered by goto or `longjmp`, statement_false is not executed.	(since C++14)
Switch and goto are not allowed to jump into a branch of constexpr if statement.	(since C++17)

Keywords

if, else, constexpr.