Introduction Variables Data Types Numbers Casting Strings Boolean Operators Lists Tuples Dictionaries If-Else While Loops For Loops Functions Arrays Scope Modules User Input File Handling Python Maths

Welcome to the lesson on Python If-Else

Python Conditions and If statements

Python supports the usual logical conditions from mathematics:

Equals: a == b

Not Equals: a != b

Less than: a < b

Less than or equal to: a <= b

Greater than: a > b

Greater than or equal to: a >= b

These conditions can be used in several ways, most commonly in "if statements" and loops.

An "if statement" is written by using the if keyword.

Examples: If statement:

if statement
Try it out yourself

we use two variables, a and b, which are used as part of the if statement to test whether b is greater than a. As a is 45, and b is 175, we know that 175 is greater than 45, and so we print to screen that "b is greater than a".

Indentation

Python relies on indentation (whitespace at the beginning of a line) to define scope in the code. Other programming languages often use curly-brackets for this purpose.

Examples: If statement, without indentation (will raise an error):

indentation
Try it out yourself

Elif

The elif keyword is python way of saying "if the previous conditions were not true, then try this condition".

Example:

elif
Try it out yourself

In this example a is equal to b, so the first condition is not true, but the elif condition is true, so we print to screen that "a and b are equal".

Else

The else keyword catches anything which isn't caught by the preceding conditions.

Examples:

else-keyword
Try it out yourself

In this example a is greater than b, so the first condition is not true, also the elif condition is not true, so we go to the else condition and print to screen that "a is greater than b".

You can also have an else without the elif:

Examples:

else
Try it out yourself

Short Hand If

If you have only one statement to execute, you can put it on the same line as the if statement.

Examples: One line if statement:

short-hand-if
Try it out yourself

Short Hand If Else

If you have only one statement to execute, one for if, and one for else, you can put it all on the same line:

Examples: One line if else statement:

short-hand-if-else
Try it out yourself

This is known as Ternary Operators, or Conditional Expressions.

You can also have multiple else statements on the same line:

Examples: One line if else statement, with 3 conditions:

multiple-if
Try it out yourself

And

The and keyword is a logical operator, and is used to combine conditional statements:

Examples: Test if a is greater than b, AND if c is greater than a:

and
Try it out yourself

Or

The or keyword is a logical operator, and is used to combine conditional statements:

Examples: Test if a is greater than b, OR if a is greater than c:

or
Try it out yourself

Nested if

You can have if statements inside if statements, this is called nested if statements.

Examples:

nested_if
Try it out yourself

The pass Statement

if statements cannot be empty, but if you for some reason have an if statement with no content, put in the pass statement to avoid getting an error.

Examples:

nested_if
Try it out yourself

End of Python If-Else

You have learned Python If-Else in simple terms. Let's proceed on to Quiz.

Quiz Time!
Next Lesson
Back To Top