what is the use of if else statements? - if-statement

Question

I don't quite understand the meaning of else if statements.
why not just to continue with the if statements in case one is false?
it works the same.
example with if only that will work the same with else if:
function testSize(num) {
if (num < 5){
return "Tiny";
}
if (num < 10){
return "small";
}
return "Change Me";
}
testSize(7);

Answer 1

In your actual code you specify a return statement in the code associated to the if statement.
Suppose you don't specify a return statement or suppose today you specify a return statement but tomorrow you remove it to do a common return at the end of the method.
This code will test each condition even if the first one is true :
if (num < 5){
// do something
}
if (num < 10){
// do something
}
This code will not test the next condition if the first one is true :
if (num < 5){
// do something
}
else if (num < 10){
// do something
}
These two ways of doing have two distinct meanings.
When you have a series of if statements, you expect that more than one condition may be true.
When you have a series of if-else-if statements, you expect to have not more than one condition true.
Using the first form (a series of if) while functionally you expect to have not more than one condition true is misleading.
Besides, if the code is modified and you add a condition that is both true for two if statements while you don't want have this case, it would create an issue.

Answer 2

Your code is only showing your belief. What would happen in the example below?
function testSize(num) {
if (num < 5){
x = 1;
}
if (num < 10){
x = 2;
}
result = complex calculations;
}
function testSize2(num) {
if (num < 5){
x = 1;
} else if (num < 10){
x = 2;
}
return x * 2;
}
testSize(4); // result is 4
testSize2(4); // result is 2
x may also be involved in more calculations

Answer 3

if(condition) {...}
if(condition) {...}
if(condition) {...}
In above code, even if the first or second condition is true, third condition have to be checked.
if(condition) {}
else if(condition){}
else if(condition){}
Here if first condition is true, next two will not be checked. So, it saves time and is more readable logically.

Answer 4

A one way if statement takes an action if the specified condition is true.If the condition is false, nothing is done. But what if you want to take alternative actions when the conditions is false ? You can use a two-way if-else statement. The action that a two-way if-else statements specifies differ based on whether the condition is true or false.

Answer 5

Well, there is a bit different from this two statement.Consider the follow samples
if(a > 0) {
...
}
if( a == 0) {
...
}
if(a < 0) {
...
}
and
if(a > 0) {
...
}
else if( a == 0) {
...
}
else if(a < 0) {
...
}
when a is zero the last else if statement will not be execute while if need to compare third time.If a equals to 10, else if could be execute once while if is third.From this else if statement could be execute less and let your program a bit fast.

Answer 6

else if should be used when there are multiple conditions and you want only one of them to be executed, for instance:
if(num<3){ console.log('less than 3') }
else if(num<2){ console.log('less than 2')
If you use multiple if statements instead of using else if, it will be true for both the conditions if num = 1, and therefore it will print both the statements.
Multiple if statements are used when you want to run the code inside all those if statements whose conditions are true.
In your case it doesn't make a difference because the function will stop and return at the very first return statement it encounters. But let's say, the blocks' orders are interchanged, then your function will never return 'tiny' even if num = (anything less than 5).
I hope that helps!

Answer 7

If all your if branches terminate the function (e.g., but returning a value of throwing an exception), you're right, and you really don't need an else statement (although some coding standards might recommend it).
However, if the if branches don't terminate the function, you'd have to use an else or else if clause to prevent multiple blocks from being executed. Assume, e.g., you want to log a message to the console instead of returning it:
if (num < 5) {
console.log("Tiny");
} else if (num < 10) {
console.log("small");
} else {
console.log("Change Me");
}