Question

Are braces required around the block after an if statement?

1) Yes, braces are required
2) No, braces are not required

Answer 1

Braces are not strictly required after an if statement if only a single statement is to be executed conditionally; however, for clarity and future-proofing, it is advised to use braces.

Step-by-step explanation:

When writing an if statement in many programming languages, such as Java, C, or C++, braces are not strictly required when the block contains only a single statement. However, it is generally considered good practice to use braces anyway, as they make the code clearer and more maintainable. If the block after the if statement contains more than one statement, braces are necessary to group the statements together as part of the same conditional execution path.

Here is an example without braces:

if (condition) statement;

And with braces:

if (condition) {
statement1;
statement2;
}

For readability and to prevent errors in the case where additional statements may later be added, it is recommended to always use braces.