Editing Conditional (computer programming) (section)

{{Short description|Control flow statement that executes code according to some condition(s)}}

[[File:If-Then-Else-diagram.svg|thumb|If-then-else flow diagram]]
[[File:IF-THEN-ELSE-END flowchart.svg|thumb|right|A nested ''if–then–else'' flow diagram]]

In [[computer science]], '''conditionals''' (that is, '''conditional statements''', '''conditional expressions''' and '''conditional constructs''') are [[programming language]] constructs that perform different computations or actions or return different values depending on the value of a [[Boolean data type|Boolean]] expression, called a ''condition''.

Conditionals are typically implemented by selectively executing instructions. Although [[dynamic dispatch]] is not usually classified as a conditional construct, it is another way to select between alternatives at [[run time (program lifecycle phase)|runtime]].