An Experienced Programmer’s Introduction to Java - Java Application Development on Linux - page 66

comment consists of everything from the opening /* to the closing */
sequence.

3.2.3.1
An experienced programmer probably only needs to see examples of if and
other such statements to learn them. It's only a matter of syntax. Java breaks
no new ground here; it adds no new semantics to conditional execution
constructs.

Conditional Execution

The if-else statement. The if can take a single statement without any
braces, but we always use the braces as a matter of good style (Example 3.7).

Example 3.7 A compound Java if-else statement
if (x < 0) {
y = z + progo;
} else if (x > 5) {
y = z + hmron;
mylon.grebzob();
} else {
y = z + engrom;
mylon.kuggle();
}

TIP
An important thing to remember about the Java if statement (and all other
conditional tests, such as while , do-while , and for ) is that, unlike C/C++,
its expression needs to evaluate to a boolean . In C/C++, numeric expressions
are valid, any nonzero value being considered true , but not so in Java.

The switch statement. For a multiway branch Java, like C/C++, has a
switch statement, though the Java version of switch is a bit more restrictive.
Example 3.8 shows the syntax.
In Java, the expression in the switch statement must evaluate to either
an int or a char . Even short and long are not allowed.
As in C/C++, be sure to put the break statement at the end of each case ,
or else control will flow right into the next case . Sometimes this is the desired
behavior—but if you ever do that deliberately, be sure to add a comment.