Conditional Statements

Conditional Statements

A conditional statement is a fundamental concept in programming that allows code execution based on certain conditions. Elixir provides several conditional statements, such as `if`, `unless`, `case`, and `cond`, to control the flow of your program based on specific conditions.

The `if` Statement

The `if` statement in Elixir allows you to execute a block of code only if a given condition is true. Here is the basic syntax:

```elixir if condition do

 # Code to execute if condition is true

else

 # Code to execute if condition is false

end ```

The `unless` Statement

The `unless` statement is the opposite of the `if` statement. It executes a block of code only if the provided condition is false. Here is the syntax:

```elixir unless condition do

 # Code to execute if condition is false

else

 # Code to execute if condition is true

end ```

The `case` Statement

The `case` statement allows for pattern matching on a given value. It compares the given value against different patterns, executing the code block corresponding to the first matching pattern. Here is an example:

```elixir case value do

 pattern1 ->
   # Code to execute if pattern1 matches value
 pattern2 ->
   # Code to execute if pattern2 matches value
 _ ->
   # Code to execute if no patterns match value

end ```

The `cond` Statement

The `cond` statement is useful when you need to check multiple conditions in sequence. It evaluates each condition one by one until it finds a `true` condition, then executes the corresponding code block. Here is an example:

```elixir cond do

 condition1 ->
   # Code to execute if condition1 is true
 condition2 ->
   # Code to execute if condition2 is true
 true ->
   # Code to execute if no previous conditions are true

end ```

Logical Operators

In Elixir, you can use logical operators such as `and`, `or`, and `not` in conditional statements to combine or invert conditions. These operators allow for more complex conditions to be evaluated. Here is an example:

```elixir if condition1 and condition2 do

 # Code to execute if both condition1 and condition2 are true

end ```

Conclusion

Conditional statements are an essential part of any programming language, and Elixir provides powerful constructs to handle different conditions in your code. By using `if`, `unless`, `case`, and `cond`, as well as logical operators, you can control the flow of your Elixir programs based on specific conditions.