Python Programming

If-elif-else statements

Besides if and if-else statements, Python also offers a if-elif-else statement. elif is just short for “else if”, and also aligns better with else!

if user_guess == 42:
    print("Correct!")
elif user_guess < 42:
    print("Too low")
else:
    print("Too high")

Switch statements

There are no switch statements in Python before version 3.10. You can use if-elif-else for this. Alternatively, use a dict (which is much more efficient).

>>> key = "c"
>>> choices = {"a": 1, "b": 2, "c": 3}
>>> result = choices.get(key, -1)

// This is C++ code, not Python!!
int result;

char key = 'c';

switch(key) {
    case 'a':
        result = 1;
        break;
    case 'b':
        result = 2;
        break;
    case 'c':
        result = 3;
        break;
    default:
        result = -1;
}

Switch statements in Python 3.10

Python 3.10 (released 4th October 2021) introduced a new Structural Pattern Matching feature with a match...case statement.

# Python >=3.10 only!
key = "c"

match key:
    case "a":
        result = 1
    case "b":
        result = 2
    case "c":
        result = 3
    case _:
        result = -1

print(result)