Control structures are fundamental in programming, as they allow the programmer to control the flow of execution of the program. These structures are divided into three types: sequence control structures, selection control structures, and repetition control structures.
Sequence control structures
The sequence control structures are the simplest, as they only indicate the order in which the instructions must be executed. That is, the statements are executed one after the other, in the order in which they appear in the code.
Selection control structures
Selection control structures allow the program to execute different statements depending on a condition. The condition is evaluated and, depending on the result, the program chooses which statement to execute.
There are two selection control structures: the if and the switch. The if is used when there are only two options of statements to be executed, while the switch is used when there are more than two options.
Repeating Control Structures
Repeating control structures allow a program to execute a set of statements multiple times as long as a condition is true. There are three loop control structures: the while, the do-while, and the for.
The while is used when you don't know how many times the set of instructions should be executed. do-while is similar to while, but guarantees that the set of statements will be executed at least once. The for is used when you know how many times the set of instructions must be executed.
In summary, control structures are essential for the programmer to be able to control the program's execution flow. Mastering these structures is critical to writing more efficient code with fewer errors.
