Yes, that's it. I would think of it like this:
IF (boolean condition)
THEN (consequentA)
ELSE (consequentB)
Any of the conditional statements whenever used returns a boolean value. So X<Y returns a boolean of true (1) or false(2) based on the result of X being smaller than Y. Then we throw that into the conditional construct to make things happen.
True (1) we go to consequentA, False (2) we branch to consequentB ... I know doh, but the thing is that what I'm trying to say here is that the boolean conditional (<,>,=, ...) does not require that the conditional construct (IF, CASE, WHILE, FOR) be there. Its very happy to scream TRUE!! even if nobody is listening. It's their job and they are very proud of comparing things :)
I wish there was more documentation on the language. The manual is very limited, and this is my first time using this syntax. Simple things like what is greater than or equal? I assume >=, but it should be written down somewhere. This is my first time using this particular language, and there must be something somewhere ... the manual has a little example basically and the help files on the calculator are very helpful, but it's not enough in my opinion. I'm guessing HP will provide it soon if not already. I may be looking in all the wrong places ;)