Chapter 8

Statement-Level
Control Structures

ISBN 0-321-49362-1
Chapter 8 Topics

• Introduction
• Selection Statements
• Iterative Statements
• Unconditional Branching
• Guarded Commands
• Conclusions

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Levels of Control Flow

– Within expressions (Chapter 7)

– Among program units (Chapter 9)
– Among program statements (this chapter)

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Control Statements: Evolution

• FORTRAN I control statements were based

directly on IBM 704 hardware
• Much research and argument in the 1960s
about the issue
– One important result: It was proven that all
algorithms represented by flowcharts can be
coded with only two-way selection and pretest
logical loops

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Control Structure

• A control structure is a control statement

and the statements whose execution it
controls
• Design question
– Should a control structure have multiple entries?

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Control Structure

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Selection Statements

• A selection statement provides the means

of choosing between two or more paths of
execution
• Two general categories:
– Two-way selectors
– Multiple-way selectors

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Two-Way Selection Statements

• General form:
if control_expression
then clause
else clause
• Design Issues:
– What is the form and type of the control
expression?
– How are the then and else clauses specified?
– How should the meaning of nested selectors be
specified?

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The Control Expression

• If the then reserved word or some other

syntactic marker is not used to introduce
the then clause, the control expression is
placed in parentheses
• In C89, C99, Python, and C++, the control
expression can be arithmetic
• In most other languages, the control
expression must be Boolean

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Clause Form

• In many contemporary languages, the then and

else clauses can be single statements or compound
statements
• In Perl, all clauses must be delimited by braces
(they must be compound)
• In Python and Ruby, clauses are statement
sequences
• Python uses indentation to define clauses
if x > y :
x = y
print " x was greater than y"

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Nesting Selectors

• Java example
if (sum == 0)
if (count == 0)
result = 0;
else result = 1;
• Which if gets the else?
• Java's static semantics rule: else matches
with the nearest previous if

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Nesting Selectors (continued)

• To force an alternative semantics,

compound statements may be used:
if (sum == 0) {
if (count == 0)
result = 0;
}
else result = 1;

• The above solution is used in C, C++, and C#

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Nesting Selectors (continued)

• Statement sequences as clauses: Ruby

if sum == 0 then
if count == 0 then
result = 0
else
result = 1
end
end

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Nesting Selectors (continued)

• Python
if sum == 0 :
if count == 0 :
result = 0
else :
result = 1

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Selector Expressions

• In ML, F#, and Lisp, the selector is an

expression; in F#:
let y =
if x > 0 then x
else 2 * x

- If the if expression returns a value, there must

be an else clause (the expression could produce
a unit type, which has no value). The types of
the values returned by then and else clauses
must be the same.

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Multiple-Way Selection Statements

• Allow the selection of one of any number of

statements or statement groups
• Design Issues:
1. What is the form and type of the control expression?
2. How are the selectable segments specified?
3. Is execution flow through the structure restricted to
include just a single selectable segment?
4. How are case values specified?
5. What is done about unrepresented expression values?

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 Multiple-Way Selection: Examples

• C, C++, Java, and JavaScript

switch (expression) {
case const_expr1: stmt1;
…
case const_exprn: stmtn;
[default: stmtn+1]
}

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 Multiple-Way Selection: Examples

• Design choices for C’s switch statement

1. Control expression can be only an integer type
2. Selectable segments can be statement sequences,
blocks, or compound statements
3. Any number of segments can be executed in one
execution of the construct (there is no implicit
branch at the end of selectable segments)
4. default clause is for unrepresented values (if
there is no default, the whole statement does
nothing)

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Multiple-Way Selection: Examples

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Multiple-Way Selection: Examples

• C#
– Differs from C in that it has a static semantics
rule that disallows the implicit execution of
more than one segment

– Each selectable segment must end with an

unconditional branch (goto or break)

– Also, in C# the control expression and the case

constants can be strings

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Multiple-Way Selection: Examples

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 Multiple-Way Selection: Examples

• Ruby has two forms of case statements-we’ll cover

only one
leap = case
when year % 400 == 0 then true
when year % 100 == 0 then false
else year % 4 == 0
end

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Implementing Multiple Selectors

• Approaches:
– Multiple conditional branches
– Store case values in a table and use a linear
search of the table
– When there are more than ten cases, a hash
table of case values can be used
– If the number of cases is small and more than
half of the whole range of case values are
represented, an array whose indices are the case
values and whose values are the case labels can
be used

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 Multiple-Way Selection Using if
• Multiple Selectors can appear as direct
extensions to two-way selectors, using
else-if clauses, for example in Python:
if count < 10 :
bag1 = True
elif count < 100 :
bag2 = True
elif count < 1000 :
bag3 = True

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Multiple-Way Selection Using if

• The Python example can be written as a

Ruby case
case
when count < 10 then bag1 = true
when count < 100 then bag2 = true
when count < 1000 then bag3 = true
end

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Scheme’s Multiple Selector
• General form of a call to COND:
(COND
(predicate1 expression1)
…
(predicaten expressionn)
[(ELSE expressionn+1)]
)
- The ELSE clause is optional; ELSE is a synonym
for true
- Each predicate-expression pair is a parameter
- Semantics: The value of the evaluation of COND is
the value of the expression associated with the
first predicate expression that is true
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Iterative Statements

• The repeated execution of a statement or

compound statement is accomplished
either by iteration or recursion
• General design issues for iteration control
statements:
1. How is iteration controlled?
2. Where is the control mechanism in the loop?

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Counter-Controlled Loops
• A counting iterative statement has a loop
variable, and a means of specifying the
initial and terminal, and stepsize values
• Design Issues:
1. What are the type and scope of the loop variable?
2. Should it be legal for the loop variable or loop
parameters to be changed in the loop body, and if so,
does the change affect loop control?
3. Should the loop parameters be evaluated only once, or
once for every iteration?
4. What is the value of the loop variable after loop
termination?

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Counter-Controlled Loops: Examples

• C-based languages
for ([expr_1] ; [expr_2] ; [expr_3]) statement
- The expressions can be whole statements, or even
statement sequences, with the statements separated by
commas
– The value of a multiple-statement expression is the value of the
last statement in the expression
– If the second expression is absent, it is an infinite loop
• Design choices:
- There is no explicit loop variable
- Everything can be changed in the loop
- The first expression is evaluated once, but the other two
are evaluated with each iteration
- It is legal to branch into the body of a for loop in C

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Counter-Controlled Loops: Examples

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Counter-Controlled Loops: Examples

• C++ differs from C in two ways:

1. The control expression can also be Boolean
2. The initial expression can include variable
definitions (scope is from the definition to the
end of the loop body)
• Java and C#
– Differs from C++ in that the control expression
must be Boolean

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Counter-Controlled Loops: Examples
• Python
for loop_variable in object:
- loop body
[else:
- else clause]

– The object is often a range, which is either a list of values in

brackets ([2, 4, 6]), or a call to the range function, as in
range(5), which returns 0, 1, 2, 3, 4

– The loop variable takes on the values specified in the given

range, one for each iteration

– At loop termination, the loop variable has the last value that was
assigned to it

– The else clause, which is optional, is executed if the loop

terminates normally

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Counter-Controlled Loops: Examples

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Counter-Controlled Loops: Examples

• F#
– Because counters require variables, and functional
languages do not have variables, counter-controlled
loops must be simulated with recursive functions
let rec forLoop loopBody reps =
if reps <= 0 then ()
else
loopBody()
forLoop loopBody, (reps – 1)
- This defines the recursive function forLoop with the
parameters loopBody (a function that defines the
loop’s body) and the number of repetitions
- () means do nothing and return nothing

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Logically-Controlled Loops

• Repetition control is based on a Boolean

expression
• Design issues:
– Pretest or posttest?
– Should the logically controlled loop be a
special case of the counting loop statement or
a separate statement?

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 Logically-Controlled Loops: Examples

• C and C++ have both pretest and posttest forms, in

which the control expression can be arithmetic:
while (control_expr) do
loop body loop body
while (control_expr)
- In both C and C++ it is legal to branch into the body
of a logically-controlled loop

• Java is like C and C++, except the control expression

must be Boolean (and the body can only be entered
at the beginning -- Java has no goto

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Logically-Controlled Loops: Examples

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Logically-Controlled Loops: Examples

• F#
– As with counter-controlled loops,
logically-controlled loops can be simulated with
recursive functions
let rec whileLoop test body =
if test() then
body()
whileLoop test body
else ()

- This defines the recursive function whileLoop with

parameters test and body, both functions. test
defines the control expression
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User-Located Loop Control Mechanisms

• Sometimes it is convenient for the

programmers to decide a location for loop
control (other than top or bottom of the
loop)
• Simple design for single loops (e.g., break)
• Design issues for nested loops
1. Should the conditional be part of the exit?
2. Should control be transferable out of more
than one loop?

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User-Located Loop Control Mechanisms

• C , C++, Python, Ruby, and C# have

unconditional unlabeled exits (break)
• Java and Perl have unconditional labeled
exits (break in Java, last in Perl)
• C, C++, and Python have an unlabeled
control statement, continue, that skips the
remainder of the current iteration, but does
not exit the loop
• Java and Perl have labeled versions of
continue

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User-Located Loop Control Mechanisms

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 Iteration Based on Data Structures

• The number of elements in a data structure

controls loop iteration
• Control mechanism is a call to an iterator
function that returns the next element in
some chosen order, if there is one; else
loop is terminate
• C's for can be used to build a user-defined
iterator:
for (p=root; p==NULL; traverse(p)){
...
}

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 Iteration Based on Data Structures (continued)

• PHP
- currentpoints at one element of the array
- next moves current to the next element
- reset moves current to the first element

• Java 5.0 (uses for, although it is called

foreach)
For arrays and any other class that implements the
Iterable interface, e.g., ArrayList

for (String myElement : myList) { … }

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Iteration Based on Data Structures (continued)

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Iteration Based on Data Structures (continued)

• C# and F# (and the other .NET languages) have

generic library classes, like Java 5.0 (for arrays,
lists, stacks, and queues). Can iterate over
these with the foreach statement. User-defined
collections can implement the IEnumerator
interface and also use foreach.
List<String> names = new List<String>();
names.Add("Bob");
names.Add("Carol");
names.Add("Ted");
foreach (Strings name in names)
Console.WriteLine ("Name: {0}", name);

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Iteration Based on Data Structures (continued)

• Ruby blocks are sequences of code, delimited by

either braces or do and end
– Blocks can be used with methods to create iterators
– Predefined iterator methods (times, each, upto):
3.times {puts ″Hey!″}
list.each {|value| puts value}
(list is an array; value is a block parameter)
1.upto(5) {|x| print x, ″ ″}
Iterators are implemented with blocks, which can
also be defined by applications

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Iteration Based on Data Structures (continued)

• Ruby blocks are attached methods calls; they can have

parameters (in vertical bars); they are executed when the
method executes a yield statement
def fibonacci(last)
first, second = 1, 1
while first <= last
yield first
first, second = second, first + second
end
end
puts "Fibonacci numbers less than 100 are:"
fibonacci(100) {|num| print num, " "}
puts

- Ruby has a for statement, but Ruby converts them to upto

method calls

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Python’s yield statement

Suppose we have a function, traverse, that produces the

nodes of a data structure

def traverse(self):
yield nod

-Every time traverse is called, it returns the next node of the

structure on which it is called - yield is like a return

-The presence of the yield statement in the traverse function

completely changes its semantics – it is run in its own thread
of control. In all but the first call, the call is actually like a
resume – it starts in the state it was in at the end of its last
execution. It is history sensitive.

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Unconditional Branching

• Transfers execution control to a specified place in

the program
• Represented one of the most heated debates in
1960’s and 1970’s
• Major concern: Readability
• Some languages do not support goto statement
(e.g., Java)
• C# offers goto statement (can be used in switch
statements)
• Loop exit statements are restricted and somewhat
camouflaged goto’s

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Guarded Commands

• Designed by Dijkstra
• Purpose: to support a new programming
methodology that supported verification
(correctness) during development
• Basis for two linguistic mechanisms for
concurrent programming (in CSP)
• Basic Idea: if the order of evaluation is not
important, the program should not specify
one

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Selection Guarded Command

• Form
if <Boolean expr> -> <statement>
[] <Boolean expr> -> <statement>
...
[] <Boolean expr> -> <statement>
fi
• Semantics: when construct is reached,
– Evaluate all Boolean expressions
– If more than one are true, choose one
non-deterministically
– If none are true, it is a runtime error

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Loop Guarded Command

• Form
do <Boolean> -> <statement>
[] <Boolean> -> <statement>
...
[] <Boolean> -> <statement>
od
• Semantics: for each iteration
– Evaluate all Boolean expressions
– If more than one are true, choose one
non-deterministically; then start loop again
– If none are true, exit loop

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Guarded Commands: Rationale

• Connection between control statements and

program verification is intimate
• Verification is impossible with goto
statements
• Verification is possible with only selection
and logical pretest loops
• Verification is relatively simple with only
guarded commands

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Conclusions

• Variety of statement-level structures

• Choice of control statements beyond
selection and logical pretest loops is a
trade-off between language size and
writability
• Functional and logic programming
languages use quite different control
structures

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