Chapter 4. Statements

Statements define and control what a program does. This chapter describes the syntax and rules for C++ statements: expressions, loops, selection, and control. The statement syntax rules apply recursively, and wherever a statement is called for, you can use (almost) any of the statements in this chapter.

The syntax descriptions in this chapter are informal. See Chapter 12 for a precise BNF grammar.

An expression statement computes an expression, such as a function call or assignment. The expression result is discarded, so the expression is typically evaluated for its side effects. (See Chapter 3 for details about expressions.) The statement syntax is simply an optional expression followed by a semicolon:

expr ;

or:

;

A statement with no expression is called a null statement . Null statements are most often used for loops when no code is needed in the loop body.

Here are several examples of expression statements:

42;          // Valid but pointless
cout << 42;  // More typical
x = y * z;   // Remember that assignment is an expression
;            // Null statement