Controls conditional branching. Statements in the if-block are executed only if the if-expression evaluates to a non-zero value (or true). If the value of expression is nonzero, statement1 and any other statements in the block are executed and the else-block, if present, is skipped. If the value of expression is zero, then the if-block is skipped and the else-block, if present, is executed. Expressions that evaluate to non-zero are

• true
• a non-null pointer,
• any non-zero arithmetic value, or
• a class type that defines an unambiguous conversion to an arithmetic, boolean or pointer type. (For information about conversions, see Standard Conversions.)

  
if ( expression )  
{
   statement1;
   ...  
}
else  // optional
{
   statement2;
   ...
} 

if ( initialization; expression )  
{
   statement1;
   ...  
}
else  // optional
{
   statement2;
   ...
}  

// if_else_statement.cpp  
#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

class C
{
    public:
    void do_somthing(){}
};
void init(C){}
bool is_true() { return true; }
int x = 10;

int main()
{
	if (is_true())
	{
		cout << "b is true!\n";  // executed
	}
	else
	{
		cout << "b is false!\n";
	}

  // no else statement
	if (x == 10)
	{
		x = 0; 
	}
	
  
	C* c;
  init(c);
	if (c)
	{
		c->do_something();
	}
	else
	{
		cout << "c is null!\n";
	}
}

Visual Studio 2017 version 15.3 and later: An if statement may also contain an initialization expression, as shown in the following example:

## Example  
#include <iostream>
#include <mutex>
#include <map>
#include <string>
#include <algorithm>


using namespace std;

map<int, string> m;
mutex mx;
bool shared_flag; // guarded by mx
void unsafe_operation() {}

int main()
{

	if (auto it = m.find(10); it != m.end())
	{
		cout << it->second;
		return 0;
	}

	if (char buf[10]; fgets(buf, 10, stdin))
	{
		m[0] += buf;
	}

	if (lock_guard<mutex> lock(mx); shared_flag)
	{
		unsafe_operation();
		shared_flag = false;
	}

	string s{ "if" };
	if (auto keywords = { "if", "for", "while" }; any_of(keywords.begin(), keywords.end(), [&s](const char* kw) { return s == kw; }))
	{
		cout << "Error! Token must not be a keyword\n";
	}

}

In all forms of the if statement, expression, which can have any value except a structure, is evaluated, including all side effects. Control passes from the if statement to the next statement in the program unless one of the statements contains a break, continue, or goto.

The else clause of an if...else statement is associated with the closest previous if statement in the same scope that does not have a corresponding else statement.

Selection Statements
Keywords
switch Statement (C++)