Ifendif

Ifendif is a term used in discussions of programming, templating, and preprocessing to describe a complete conditional construct that uses a starting directive and a corresponding closing directive. It is not a universal keyword found in all languages; rather, it signals the pairing of an opening conditional and an ending marker.

In many systems, conditional blocks begin with an opening directive such as an if-like token and end with a closing directive often named endif. The exact syntax, whether an else or elif branch is supported, and how blocks can be nested, varies between languages and tools. The phrase “ifendif” is typically used as a descriptive shorthand in documentation or tutorials rather than as a formal keyword.

Common contexts where you encounter this pattern include build systems, configuration files, and templating engines. For example, a block might appear as an opening if condition, followed by a body of statements, and conclude with an endif closing tag. In some ecosystems, the closing directive is explicit and mandatory to balance the block; in others, the end of the block is determined by indentation or template rules rather than a distinct keyword.

Because the term is informal and context-dependent, “ifendif” should be interpreted from the surrounding syntax of the language or tool in question. When documenting or learning a new system, it is important to consult the specific language reference to understand how conditional blocks are opened, closed, and nested.

See also: conditional statements, endif, ifdef, endif.