The Nested if Statement

Used when the conditionals are mutually exclusive. Consider the following method of assigning grades:

if (average >= 90)
  grade = 'A';
if (average >= 80)
  grade = 'B';
if (average >= 70)
  grade = 'C';
if (average >= 60)
  grade = 'D';
if (average < 60)
  grade = 'F';

The correct method would be to use the nested if structure:

if (average >= 90)
  grade = 'A';
else 
  if (average >= 80)
    grade = 'B';
  else 
    if (average >= 70)
      grade = 'C';
    else 
      if (average >= 60)
        grade = 'D';
      else
        grade = 'F';

As soon as grade is assigned a value, the remaining "cascading" statements are skipped.

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