The ‘if’ statement in Python plays a crucial role in decision-making within your code. Understanding its syntax and usage is key to writing efficient and logical programs. Let’s delve into the specifics of Python’s ‘if’ statement and how you can leverage it effectively.
Exploring the Basics of the ‘if’ Statement
In Python, the ‘if’ statement allows you to execute a block of code only if a specified condition is true. Here’s a simple example:
age = 25
if age >= 18:
print("You are an adult")In this snippet, the message “You are an adult” will be printed only if the variable ‘age’ is greater than or equal to 18.
Handling Multiple Conditions with ‘if-elif-else’
When dealing with multiple conditions, you can use ‘elif’ (short for else if) and ‘else’ along with ‘if’. Consider this example:
num = -5
if num > 0:
print("Number is positive")
elif num == 0:
print("Number is zero")
else:
print("Number is negative")