Java Control Flow Concepts

Learning objective: By the end of this lesson, you’ll be able to define and distinguish different types of control flows in computer programs.

What is control flow?

In Java, control flow refers to the sequence in which individual statements, instructions, or function calls are executed or evaluated. Java provides various control flow constructs to enable developers to define the logical flow of a program.

Sequential flow

Tasks executing in a sequence.

The default execution flow for almost all programming languages is sequential. Sequential execution flow occurs when a program’s statements are executed from top to bottom in the order they appear. However, this sequential flow can be manipulated to branch or loop using control flow statements.

Branching

Tasks in one branch executing while the other branch is not, depending on a condition.

Branching is achieved when the execution of a program is transferred from one statement to another statement anywhere else in the program other than the subsequent line. When the execution flow is transferred by evaluating whether a certain condition is met, such control flow manipulation is called conditional branching. When the execution is transferred without those evaluations, it is called unconditional branching.

Looping

A task executing in a loop until a condition is met.

Looping refers to the process of executing a block of code repeatedly, either for a specified number of times or until a specific condition is met. Looping helps programmers to write efficient code by removing the need to write redundant code.