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Structure
Conditionals

Perform an action if a condition is true (IF .. THEN)

Given a variable name, if the value is "Bob", display the string "Hello, Bob!". Perform no action if the name is not equal.
perl
if ($name eq "Bob") {
print "Hello, Bob!"
}
print "Hello, Bob!" if $name eq "Bob";
java
if (name.equals("Bob")) {
System.out.println("Hello, Bob!");
}
clojure
(def person "Bob")
(if (= person "Bob")
(println "Hello, Bob!"))

Perform different actions depending on a boolean condition (IF .. THEN .. ELSE)

Given a variable age, if the value is greater than 42 display "You are old", otherwise display "You are young"
perl
if ($age > 42) {
print "You are old"
}
else {
print "You are young"
}
print 'You are ',($age > 42) ? 'old' : 'young';
java
if (age > 42) {
System.out.println("You are old");
} else {
System.out.println("You are young");
}
System.out.println("You are " + ((age>42)?"old":"young"));
clojure
(def age 41)
(if (> age 42) "You are old" "You are young")

Perform different actions depending on several boolean conditions (IF .. THEN .. ELSIF .. ELSE)

perl
if ($age > 84) {
print "You are really ancient";
} elsif ($age > 30) {
print "You are middle-aged";
} else {
print "You are young";
}
print 'You are ',
$age > 84 ? 'really ancient!'
: $age > 30 ? 'middle-aged'
: 'young';
java
if (age > 84) System.out.println("You are really ancient");
else if (age > 30) System.out.println("You are middle-aged");
else System.out.println("You are young");
clojure
(println
(condp <= age
84 "You are really ancient"
30 "You are middle aged"
"You are young"))

Replacing a conditional with many branches with a switch/case statement

Many languages support more compact forms of branching than just if ... then ... else such as switch or case or match. Use such a form to add an appropriate placing suffix to the numbers 1..40, e.g. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, ..., 11th, 12th, ... 39th, 40th
perl
sub suffix {
my $n = shift;

return 'th' if $n % 100 >= 4 && $n % 100 <= 20;
return 'st' if $n % 10 == 1;
return 'nd' if $n % 10 == 2;
return 'rd' if $n % 10 == 3;
return 'th';

}

foreach my $n (1..40) {
print $n.suffix($n)."\n";
}
java
String[] array = new String[40];
for(int n = 1; n <= array.length; n++)
array[n-1] = Integer.toString(n);
for(int n = 0; n < array.length; n++)
{
int y = Integer.parseInt(array[n]);
if(array[n].length() > 1)
y = Integer.parseInt(array[n].substring(1));
switch(y)
{
case 1: {array[n] += "st"; break;}
case 2: {array[n] += "nd"; break;}
case 3: {array[n] += "rd"; break;}
default: array[n] += "th";
}
}
clojure
(def n 112)

(println (str n
(let [rem (mod n 100)]
(if (and (>= rem 11) (<= rem 13))
"th"
(condp = (mod n 10)
1 "st"
2 "nd"
3 "rd"
"th")))))
Loops

Perform an action multiple times based on a boolean condition, checked before the first action (WHILE .. DO)

Starting with a variable x=1, Print the sequence "1,2,4,8,16,32,64,128," by doubling x and checking that x is less than 150.
perl
my $x = 1;
while($x < 150) {
print $x, ",";
$x *=2
}
java
int x = 1;
while (x < 150) {
System.out.println(x+",");
x*=2;
}
clojure
(take-while #(< % 150) (iterate #(* 2 %) 1))

Perform an action multiple times based on a boolean condition, checked after the first action (DO .. WHILE)

Simulate rolling a die until you get a six. Produce random numbers, printing them until a six is rolled. An example output might be "4,2,1,2,6"
perl
do {
my $number = int(rand(6)+1);
print $number;
print ',' if ($number != 6);
} while ($number != 6);
java
int rnd;
do {
rnd = (int)(Math.random()*6)+1;
System.out.print(rnd);
if (rnd!=6) {
System.out.print(",");
}
} while(rnd!=6);
clojure
(loop [r (rand-int 6)]
(if (= r 5)
nil
(do
(println r)
(recur (rand-int 6)))))

Perform an action a fixed number of times (FOR)

Display the string "Hello" five times like "HelloHelloHelloHelloHello"
perl
print "Hello" x 5
print "Hello" for (1..5)
java
for(int i=0;i<5;i++) {
System.out.print("Hello");
}
clojure
(dotimes [_ 5]
(print "Hello"))

Perform an action a fixed number of times with a counter

Display the string "10 .. 9 .. 8 .. 7 .. 6 .. 5 .. 4 .. 3 .. 2 .. 1 .. Liftoff!"
perl
for (my $i = 10; $i > 0; $i--) {
print "$i .. ";
}
print "Liftoff!";
print "$_ .. " for reverse 1..10;
print "Liftoff!";
java
for(int i=10; i>=1; i--) {
System.out.print(i + " .. ");
}
System.out.print("Liftoff!");
clojure
(dotimes [i 10]
(print (str (- 10 i) " .. ")))

(println "Liftoff!")