We have seen several examples of control flow statements. The simplest is the if statement:
if( x < 13 ) delay( x );
We can also add an else statement after it:
if( cost < bank_balance ) buy_it(); else walk_away();
Another simple control flow statement is the while:
while( ++day < DAYS_PER_WEEK ) salary += ONE_DAY_PAY;
A little more complicated is the for statement, which has three parts, the initialization, the condition, and the loop expression (where the control variable is usually modified):
for( int a = 0; a < HOW_HIGH; ++a ) jump();
All three parts are optional -- the most reduced form is for(;;), which means to loop forever.
If we want to group several statements together so they can be controlled by an if, a while, or a for, then we simply put curly braces around the group of statements:
if( today == TUESDAY ) { do_the_laundry(); walk_the_dog(); call_mom(); }
Comments are any text after two forward slashes. Everything from the slashes to the end of the line is ignored by the compiler.
Statements end in a semicolon, as you have seen in all of the examples in this book.