Conditional

In a conditional statement or expression the value of a condition determines which alternative pieces of code to execute.

Related concepts:  StatementExpressionControl Flow

Closest Wikipedia entry:  Conditional (computer programming) — In computer science, conditionals (that is, conditional statements, conditional expressions and conditional constructs) are programming language constructs that perform different computations or actions or return different values depending on the value of a Boolean expression, called a condition. Conditionals are typically implemented by selectively executing instructions. Although dynamic dispatch is not usually classified as a conditional construct, it is another way to select between alternatives at runtime.

Misconceptions about Conditional

23 documented Misconceptions

BaseCaseNotNeeded

Recursive computations do not necessarily need a base case

ConditionalIsSequence

If-then-else block is equivalent to sequence of two if-then blocks

ElseAlwaysExecutes

The else branch of an if-then-else block always executes

MissingElseTerminates

Blocks following an if without else will not execute if the condition is false