## IF-ELSEIF-ELSE Conditional Statements

Section: Flow Control

### Usage

The `if` and `else` statements form a control structure for conditional execution. The general syntax involves an `if` test, followed by zero or more `elseif` clauses, and finally an optional `else` clause:

      if conditional_expression_1
        statements_1
      elseif conditional_expression_2
        statements_2
      elseif conditional_expresiion_3
        statements_3
      ...
      else
        statements_N
      end

Note that a conditional expression is considered true if the real part of the result of the expression contains any non-zero elements (this strange convention is adopted for compatibility with MATLAB).

### Examples

Here is an example of a function that uses an `if` statement

         if_test.m
    function c = if_test(a)
      if (a == 1)
         c = 'one';
      elseif (a==2)
         c = 'two';
      elseif (a==3)
         c = 'three';
      else
         c = 'something else';
      end

Some examples of `if_test` in action:

    --> if_test(1)

    ans =

     one

    --> if_test(2)

    ans =

     two

    --> if_test(3)

    ans =

     three

    --> if_test(pi)

    ans =

     something else