Conditional Statements in Python

Python

Learn Python Programming: A Beginner’s Guide to Coding, Automation, and Data Science

 

 

What are Conditional Statements? 

Conditional statements in Python help your code make decisions! Think of them as traffic lights  that tell your program where to go based on certain conditions.

Python provides three main conditional statements:

Statement	Meaning
if	Executes a block of code only if the condition is True
elif	(short for "else if") Checks another condition if the first if was False
else	Executes a block of code if none of the previous conditions were True

The if Statement 

Executes code only if the condition is True.

age = 18
if age >= 18:
    print("You are an adult!")

Real-life Example:

• If it’s raining, take an umbrella! 

raining = True
if raining:
    print("Take an umbrella!")

The if-else Statement 

Use else to run a different block of code when the if condition is False.

age = 16
if age >= 18:
    print("You can vote!")
else:
    print("Sorry, you are too young to vote.")

Real-life Example:

• If you have money, buy candy , otherwise, cry.

has_money = False
if has_money:
    print("Yay! Candy time! ")
else:
    print("No candy today... ")

The if-elif-else Statement 

Use elif to check multiple conditions.

score = 85
if score >= 90:
    print("You got an A! ")
elif score >= 80:
    print("You got a B! ")
elif score >= 70:
    print("You got a C! ")
else:
    print("You failed... ")

Real-life Example:

• If you are hungry, eat .
• Else if you are tired, sleep .
• Otherwise, watch Netflix .

hungry = False
tired = True

if hungry:
    print("Time to eat! ")
elif tired:
    print("Time to sleep! ")
else:
    print("Let's watch Netflix!")

Nesting if Statements 

You can put if statements inside another if statement.

age = 20
gender = "male"

if age >= 18:
    if gender == "male":
        print("You are an adult male!")
    else:
        print("You are an adult female!")
else:
    print("You are still a minor!")

Real-life Example:

• If the store is open, check if they sell ice cream. 

store_open = True
sells_ice_cream = False

if store_open:
    if sells_ice_cream:
        print("Buy ice cream!")
    else:
        print("No ice cream here...")
else:
    print("The store is closed.")

Summary 

Statement	Purpose
if	Checks a condition and executes code if True
else	Executes code if the if condition is False
elif	Checks another condition if the first if was False
Nested if	Allows checking multiple conditions inside another if

Now you're a Python decision-making master! 

Try using conditional statements in your own code and make your programs smarter!