I agree. For example when you are using some form of polymorphism, the compiler/runtime are handling your if/else for you. But, still in terms of understanding

I agree. For example when you are using some form of polymorphism, the compiler/runtime are handling your if/else for you. But, still in terms of understanding what a piece of code is doing you will have to consider all the possible branches whether they are explicit in code as if/else statements or hidden under some abstraction like map/dictionary. Edit: The conditional abstractions like map are useful in the sense that the conditions that they support are very simple, in case of map it is if supplied key equals that key, whereas if/else statements can be used to create any kind of complex conditions.