Statements: If

An if statement will execute code if a condition is true. If it's false, an else block can execute.

$count = 11;

if ($count < 10) {
  echo "small";
} else if ($count < 20) {
  echo "medium";
} else {
  echo "large";
}

Conditions must have type bool or be implicitly convertible to bool.

If the condition evaluates to to true, the if block is executed. Otherwise, else if conditions are evaluated in order until one evaluates to true, then its block is executed.

If none of the conditions evaluate to true, and an else block is present, that will be executed instead.

Without Braces

Braces allow you to have multiple statements inside an if statement. Braces are recommended, but they are optional.

if ($count < 10)
  echo "small";
else
  echo "big";

When no braces are present, an else clause is associated with the lexically nearest preceding if or else if.

if ($x)
  echo "x is true";
if ($y)
  echo "y is true";
else // Associated with the second if.
  echo "y is not true";

The above code is equivalent to:

if ($x) {
  echo "x is true";
}
if ($y) {
  echo "y is true";
} else {
  echo "y is not true";
}