ElsIf

DRAFT

Observed

Correction

Here is what's right.

There is no elsif in Java.

The following code is incorrect:

if (c1) {
  ...
} elsif (c2) { // illegal
  ...
} else {
  ...
}

It has to be written like this:

if (c1) {
  ...
} else if (c2) { // if nested inside an else
  ...
} else {
  ...
}

Symptoms

How do you know your students might have this misconception?

Other programming languages feature an “elsif” construct (e.g., elif in Python) that allows chaining multiple conditions in a more concise way. Students may be transferring this knowledge to Java, expecting an elsif keyword to exist.