If else

Question

What is difference between writing : else with {}
and without {}

Answer 1

Basically, when you need several statements, or lines to be executed for your if or your else you need {}. That tells the system that it must execute everything between the { and } for your if or your else.

If you need ONLY one statement to be executed you do not need {}. You can put it but it is not necessary.

Answer 2

When you’ve got to check a condition, if you’re omitting the {} the if / else if / else statements will only run the first code line, the {} are needed to run a bunch of code lines.

Example of one line conditional code:

if (a > b)
bigger = a;
else
bigger = b;

Example where {} are needed to run a bunch of lines of code:

if (a > b)
{
bigger = a;
std::cout << “A is bigger than B”;
}
else
{
bigger = b;
std::cout << “B is bigger than A”;
}