Learning C# 2005: Get Started with C# 2.0 and .NET Programming (2nd Edition)

3.1. Statements

In C#, a complete program instruction is called a statement and each statement ends with a semicolon (;) . Programs consist of sequences of statements such as:

int myVariable; // a statement myVariable = 23; // another statement int anotherVariable = myVariable; // yet another statement

The compiler starts at the beginning of a source code file and reads down, executing statement after statement in the order encountered . This would be entirely straightforward, and terribly limiting, were it not for branching . Branching allows you to change the order in which statements are evaluated. See Chapter 5 for more information about branching.