The if keyword marks the beginning of the conditional statement, followed by parentheses ().The parentheses hold a _________ datatype.

The blank in the statement should be filled with “boolean.”

In programming, especially in languages like Python, C, C++, and Java, the if keyword is indeed the start of a conditional statement that allows for decision-making in code execution. The condition that is evaluated to determine which block of code to execute must return a boolean value. A boolean datatype can only hold one of two possible values: true or false. This binary nature of boolean logic is fundamental to control flow in programming. When the condition inside the parentheses evaluates to true, the code block associated with the if statement will execute; otherwise, it is skipped, and the program may continue to an else clause if present.

Overall, understanding how if statements work and what datatypes are acceptable is crucial for effective programming and logical reasoning within code structures.