## `elseif`/`else if`

(PHP 4, PHP 5, PHP 7)

`elseif`, as its name suggests, is a combination of `if` and `else`. Like `else`, it extends an `if` statement to execute a different statement in case the original `if` expression evaluates to `FALSE`. However, unlike `else`, it will execute that alternative expression only if the `elseif` conditional expression evaluates to `TRUE`. For example, the following code would display a is bigger than b, a equal to b or a is smaller than b:

`<?php
if ($a > $b) {
echo "a is bigger than b";
} elseif ($a == $b) {
echo "a is equal to b";
} else {
echo "a is smaller than b";
}
?>`

There may be several `elseif`s within the same `if` statement. The first `elseif` expression (if any) that evaluates to `TRUE` would be executed. In PHP, you can also write 'else if' (in two words) and the behavior would be identical to the one of 'elseif' (in a single word). The syntactic meaning is slightly different (if you're familiar with C, this is the same behavior) but the bottom line is that both would result in exactly the same behavior.

The `elseif` statement is only executed if the preceding `if` expression and any preceding `elseif` expressions evaluated to `FALSE`, and the current `elseif` expression evaluated to `TRUE`.

> Note: Note that `elseif` and `else if` will only be considered exactly the same when using curly brackets as in the above example. When using a colon to define your `if`/`elseif` conditions, you must not separate `else if` into two words, or PHP will fail with a parse error.

`<?php
/* Incorrect Method: */
if ($a > $b):
echo $a." is greater than ".$b;
else if ($a == $b): // Will not compile.
echo "The above line causes a parse error.";
endif;
/* Correct Method: */
if ($a > $b):
echo $a." is greater than ".$b;
elseif ($a == $b): // Note the combination of the words.
echo $a." equals ".$b;
else:
echo $a." is neither greater than or equal to ".$b;
endif;
?>`