Conditionals

This topic describes the if statement. The if statement is used to write pieces of code that should only be executed under certain circumstances (conditions). Here is an example:

if a > 3
  b = 2
else
  b = 1
  a = 2
endif

In this code snippet, b is given the value 2 when a is greater than 3, otherwise b is given the value 1, and a is given the value 2.

Here is the complete syntax of the if statement:

if <boolean-expression>
  <statements>
[elseif <boolean-expression>
  <statements>]
[else
  <statements>]
endif

The parts between brackets [ ] are optional. There can be as many elseif blocks as you find useful. Here is an example which finds the largest of three variables a, b and c and places it in x:

if a > b && a > c
  x = a
elseif b > c
  x = b
else
  x = c
endif

The usage of elseif is not really necessary. The following example does exactly the same thing:

if a > b && a > c
  x = a
else
  if b > c
    x = b
  else
    x = c
  endif
endif

This example uses a nested if statement (an if statement within another if statement). If statements may be nested as much as you want.

When evaluating the boolean operators && and ||, Ultra Fractal uses short circuit evaluation. The expression is evaluated from left to right and Ultra Fractal stops as soon as the answer is known. This is more efficient and it allows you to write expressions like these:

int i = -1
float a[10]
if i >= 0 && a[i] > 2
  ...
endif

In this case, Ultra Fractal detects that i is negative, so it will never even try to read a[i], which is exactly what we intend because -1 would not be a legal index value for the array.

Notes

• In Fractint, it is necessary to surround the boolean expressions after if and elseif with parentheses. Ultra Fractal does not require this, but it is not harmful.
• For more information on boolean operators like &&, see Operators in the Reference section.
  

Next: Loops

See Also
Expressions
Types