Braced Conditionals

The syntax if condition "{" thenExpr "}" ("else" "{" elseExpr "}")? is introduced as an alternative for if (condition) then thenExpr else elseExpr. The semantics are identical, but the else part is optional, and defaults to an empty sequence.

For example, in XQuery, if ($break) {<br/>} outputs a br element if $break is true, and does nothing if it is false.