use of "else if" in c++

Question

I have two questions - (I)

code-fragment-1

if(<condition-statement>){
}

else if(<condition-statement-2>){
    //statements-1
}
//statements-2

code-fragment-2

if(<condition-statement>){
}

else{
    if(<condition-statement-2>){
        //statements-1
    }
    //statements-2
}

Are the above two code fragments same?

(II) when are else ifs (in C++) used?

Answer 1

The only difference is in example 1 your Statement2 will get executed regardless of the conditions you check. In example 2, Statement2 will only get executed if your if condition is false. Other than that, they're basically the same.