If/Then Choice Builder
Programs make decisions all the time. Build your own IF/THEN/ELSE rules, toggle conditions, and watch what happens. Every app you use runs thousands of these checks every second.
Watch how IF/THEN/ELSE works!
IFit is raining
THEN🧥 wear a raincoat← active
ELSE👕 wear a t-shirt
😊
🧥Wear a raincoat
The condition "It is raining" is TRUE - wear a raincoat!
Computer Logic Reference
What is a Condition?
A condition is a question that has exactly two answers: true or false. There is no "maybe."
- "It is raining" is either true or false right now
- "The light is red" is true or false
- Conditions let computers make choices automatically
- Programmers call true/false values booleans
IF/THEN/ELSE
Every IF/THEN/ELSE rule has two paths:
- IF the condition is true, follow the THEN path
- ELSE (if the condition is false), follow the ELSE path
- Only one path runs - never both
- This is called a conditional statement
Boolean Logic
Conditions use boolean values named after mathematician George Boole. A boolean is always exactly one of two values:
- true (yes, on, 1)
- false (no, off, 0)
- Computers represent true as 1 and false as 0 in memory
- All computer decisions come down to 1s and 0s
Real Computer Decisions
Every app on your phone or computer runs IF/THEN checks constantly. Some examples:
- IF battery < 20% THEN show low battery warning
- IF password is correct THEN log in ELSE show error
- IF it is nighttime THEN use dark mode ELSE use light mode
- Games use thousands of these checks every second to respond to players
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Related Labs
If/Then Choice Lab
Build IF/THEN/ELSE decision rules and test them with real-world scenarios. Discover how computers use conditional logic to make decisions. Grades 3-5.
Selection & Iteration Lab
Trace through if/else, for, while, and nested loops step by step. Evaluate Boolean expressions with short-circuit logic. Explore common patterns like accumulator, FizzBuzz, and multiplication tables
Loops, Debugging & Animation Lab
Compare flat programs to loop-based ones, fix buggy programs, and create event-driven sprite animations
Coding Mazes & Sequencing Lab
Write step-by-step programs to navigate a robot through mazes, trace execution, and debug broken sequences
