Conditionals (if else)

Overview

Conditionals offer a way for your code to make decisions. In the real world, an example of a conditional might be, if it is cold put on a sweater. A conditional in code looks like the following (see below). In the following code, the condition x == 5 is evaluated as either true or false. Note the double equals sign. The code x = 5 tells the program to set x to the value 5. The code x == 5 tells the program to compare the value of x and 5. If they are the same, the program returns true. If they are not the same, the program returns false.

if (x == 5) {                //Checks if this condition is true (i.e. does x equal 5). Note double equals sign
   //If the condition is true than any lines of code placed between the two curly braces are executed.
}

In addition to the single state if, you can also have a second state represented by else. The following is an example of code that has two possible states based on the evaluation of the initial condition.

if (x == 5) {                //Checks if this condition is true (i.e. does x equal 5).
    //If the condition is true than lines placed here are executed.
} else {
 //If the condition is false than this lines placed here are executed.
}

Challenge

  1. Write a program to test the value of a variable. Initialize a variable and set its initial value to 6. Using a conditional, check if the value is in fact 6. If the value is 6 then print “true” in your serial monitor.

  2. Connect pin 6 to ground via a long jump wire. Modify your program to print “true” only if pin 6 is connected to power.

  3. Modify your code to print “true” if pin 6 is connected to power and “false” if connected to ground.

TEACHER CHECK _____