Statements

Statements are fragments of the C++ program that are executed in sequence. The body of any function is a sequence of statements. For example:

int main()
{
    int n = 1;                        // declaration statement
    n = n + 1;                        // expression statement
    std::cout << "n = " << n << '\n'; // expression statement
    return 0;                         // return statement
}

C++ includes the following types of statements:

Labeled statements

A labeled statement labels a statement for control flow purposes.

label is defined as.

A label with an identifier declared inside a function matches all goto statements with the same identifier in that function, in all nested blocks, before and after its own declaration.

Two labels in a function must not have the same identifier.

Labels are not found by unqualified lookup: a label can have the same name as any other entity in the program.

void f()
{
    {
        goto label; // label in scope even though declared later
        label:      // label can appear at the end of a block standalone since C++23
    }
    goto label; // label ignores block scope
}
 
void g()
{
    goto label; // error: label not in scope in g()
}

Expression statements

An expression statement is an expression followed by a semicolon.

Most statements in a typical C++ program are expression statements, such as assignments or function calls.

An expression statement without an expression is called a null statement. It is often used to provide an empty body to a for or while loop. It can also be used to carry a label in the end of a compound statement. (until C++23).

Compound statements

A compound statement or block groups a sequence of statements into a single statement.

When one statement is expected, but multiple statements need to be executed in sequence (for example, in an if statement or a loop), a compound statement may be used:

if (x > 5)          // start of if statement
{                   // start of block
    int n = 1;      // declaration statement
    std::cout << n; // expression statement
}                   // end of block, end of if statement

Each compound statement introduces its own block scope; variables declared inside a block are destroyed at the closing brace in reverse order:

int main()
{ // start of outer block
    {                                // start of inner block
        std::ofstream f("test.txt"); // declaration statement
        f << "abc\n";                // expression statement
    }                                // end of inner block, f is flushed and closed
    std::ifstream f("test.txt"); // declaration statement
    std::string str;             // declaration statement
    f >> str;                    // expression statement
} // end of outer block, str is destroyed, f is closed

Selection statements

A selection statement chooses between one of several control flows.

Iteration statements

An iteration statement repeatedly executes some code.

Jump statements

A jump statement unconditionally transfers control flow.

Note: for all jump statements, transfer out of a loop, out of a block, or back past an initialized variable with automatic storage duration involves the destruction of objects with automatic storage duration that are in scope at the point transferred from but not at the point transferred to. If multiple objects were initialized, the order of destruction is the opposite of the order of initialization.

Declaration statements

A declaration statement introduces one or more identifiers into a block.

Try blocks

A try block catches exceptions thrown when executing other statements.

See also