Elif Python: Elif conditionals in Python

In the Python language, Elif creates conditional flow control structures in a program. This structure is very similar to the keyword if, but with an important difference: while if we test a condition is true or false, elif we use it to test a condition is false and then execute a specific block of code.

In other words, if you use it to test and execute a block of code when a condition is true, and use ‘elif’ to test and execute a block of code when a condition is false.

this article, We’ll explore how to use elif in Python, how to integrate it with other flow control frameworks like if and else, and how to apply it to practical projects. In addition, we’ll discuss the advantages and limitations of elif, as well as some advice to avoid common mistakes when using elif in Python.

Syntax

The syntax of  elif in Python is very similar to the syntax of  if, with some important differences. Here’s an example of how to use o  elif in Python:

if condition1:
    # block of code to execute if condition1 is true
    
elif condition2:
    # block of code to execute if condition1 is false and condition2 is true
    
elif condition3:
    # block of code to execute if condition1 and condition2 are false and condition3 is true
    
else:
    # block of code to be executed if all previous conditions are false

Note that the  elif is used to test whether a condition is false and then execute a specific block of code. Each block of code that is associated with one  elif is executed only if the corresponding condition is true. If all the previous conditions are false, the do code block  else is executed.

Furthermore, it is possible that we are using multiple  elif analogues in a single flow control structure, as in the example above, where there are three  elif different ones. This allows us to test multiple conditions and run different blocks of code for each of them.

How is elif different from if in Python?

Although the syntax of do  elif and do  if in Python are similar, there are some important differences between them. Here are some of the main differences between  elif and  if in Python:

  1. The  if is used to test whether a condition is true and execute a block of code if it is true. It is already  elif used to test if a condition is false and execute a block of code if it is false. See this example below:
  2. The  if is used to test a single condition. We can already  elif apply it to test multiple conditions in a single flow control structure. See this example below:
  3. We can apply it  if alone in a flow control structure. We can only apply it  elif in conjunction with  if,  else or in a nested flow control structure.
  4. When the  if is used to test multiple conditions, we need it nested within the if itself. We can use it  elif in conjunction with  if or  else to create a simpler flow control structure.

In summary, although o  elif and o  if in Python have similar syntax, o  elif is used to test false conditions, while o  if is used to test true conditions. We can also apply  elif to test multiple conditions in a single flow control structure, which makes the code cleaner and more organized.

Examples of how to use elif in Python

Now let’s learn how to use elif with some practical examples.

Simple examples of how to use it  elif in Python:

  • Example 1: Determine the day of the week
day_oftheweek = input("What day of the week is it?")

if day_of_week == "Sunday":
    print("Happy Sunday!")
elif day_of_week == "monday":
    print("Happy Monday!")
elif week_day == "Tuesday":
    print("Happy Tuesday!")
elif week_day =="Wednesday":
    print("Happy Wednesday!")
elif week_day == "Thursday":
    print("Happy Thursday!")
elif week_day == "Friday":
    print("Happy Friday!")
elif day_of_week == "saturday":
    print("Happy Saturday!")
else:
    print("Sorry, but this is not a valid day of the week.")
  • Example 2: Determine the state of a coin
currency = input("What is the currency state? ")

if coin =="level":
    print("The coin is at a good level.")
coin elif =="weak":
    print("The currency is weak.")
coin elif =="medium":
    print("The coin is at a medium level.")
coin elif =="strong":
    print("The currency is strong.")
else:
    print("Sorry, but this is not a valid currency state.")

In these examples, we are using it  elif to check several different conditions. In each case, we are checking whether a given condition is true and then executing a corresponding block of code. If none of the conditions are true, the code uses the clause  else to execute an additional block of code.

Advanced how-to examples  elif in Python:

Example usage of  elif with  None in Python:

In the example below, if the user enters “Yes”, the code will display the message “Yes, Python is an easy programming language!”. If the user enters “No”, the code displays the message “No, Python may be difficult for some people.”. But if the user enters  None, the code will use the clause  elif to check if the answer is  None. If so, the code will display the message “Sorry, but you did not enter a valid answer.”. See below:

answer = input("Do you think Python is an easy programming language? (Yes/No) ")

if answer =="Yes":
    print("Yes, Python is an easy programming language!")
elif answer =="No":
    print("No, Python can be difficult for some people.")
elif response is None:
    print("Sorry, but you did not enter a valid answer.")
else:
    print("Sorry, I didn't understand your answer.")

Example usage of  elif with Append in Python:

In this example, we’re looping through a list of fruits and checking whether each fruit is green, ripe, or ripe and red. If the fruit is green, we print “Fruit is green” and ignore the append. If the fruit is ripe, we print “Fruit is ripe” and add the fruit to the list  frutas using  append. And finally, if the fruit is ripe and red, we just print “Fruit is ripe” and add the fruit to the list  frutas using  append. That way, at the end we print the list  frutas, which contains the ripe fruits added by  append during the loop.

fruits = []

for fruit in ['apple', 'orange', 'banana', 'strawberry']:
    if fruit == 'apple':
        print('Fruit is green')
    elif fruit == 'orange':
        print('Fruit is ripe')
        fruits.append(fruit)
    elif fruit == 'banana':
        print('Fruit is ripe')
        fruits.append(fruit)
    elif fruit == 'strawberry':
        print('Fruit is ripe')
        fruits.append(fruit)

print(fruits)

Example usage of  elif and a set( set) in Python:

In this example, we generate a sequence from 1 to 11 and then loop through the numbers 1 to 10, checking whether each number is even or odd, or belongs to the sequence {1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9}. If we find the number 5, we print “The number is 5”. Thus, if the number is even and not in the sequence, we print “The number is even and does not belong to the sequence of numbers”. If the number is even, we add that number to the sum called ‘number’. Likewise, if the number is odd, we also add that number to the sum called ‘number’.

At the end, we print the sum  numero. Note that the sum value assumes the value of the sum of all even numbers in the sequence {2, 4, 6, 8, 10}.

number = 10

for i in range(1, 11):
    if i == 5:
        print('The number is 5')
    elif i not in set([1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9]):
        print(f'The number {i} is even and is not one of the numbers in the sequence')
    elif i % 2 == 0:
        print(f'The number {i} is even')
        number += i
    else:
        print(f'The number {i} is odd')
        number += i

print(f'The result is {number}')

What are the limitations of elif in Python?

Although  elif is a powerful flow control framework in Python, there are some limitations that you should consider when using it. Here are some of the main limitations of  elif:

  1. We are only going to apply it  elif together with  if and  else. This means that it will not be applied in conjunction with other flow control structures such as  while or  for.
  2. If there are multiple conditions  elif, they are tested in order from first to last. In that sense, if a condition  elif is true, subsequent conditions  elif are not tested, even if they are true.
  3. does  elif not allow the use of  else as a separate code block. That way, if a condition  elif is true, the block of code  else is not executed, even if all  elif previous conditions are false.
  4. does  elif not allow the use of  break or  continue within a block of code  elif. Therefore, if a condition  elif is true, the program will continue to execute the subsequent code block, even if there is a break condition within the code block  elif.
  5. We apply the  elif just in conjunction with an expression or a truth test. In this sense, this means that we cannot use it with a list of values, as in a  if regular one, unless each value is tested individually in a separate expression.

Although there are some limitations in using  elif, it is still a powerful flow control framework in Python and we can apply it to create more complex and efficient algorithms. Using the combination of  if,  elif and  else allows you to create multiple test conditions for your code while keeping control structures clear and uncluttered.

Avoid common mistakes when using elif in Python

The  elif is a keyword that is used in conjunction with  if and  else to execute different blocks of code depending on which conditions are true. However, it is possible to make some common mistakes when using  elif in Python. Here are some tips to avoid them:

  1. Make sure that all conditions in a block  elif are only true for a single value. That way, when a condition is true for multiple values, it will affect the outcome of all subsequent conditions in the block  elif.
  2. We will not apply  elif with  continue. When we need to keep running code for just a single value in a list, we use simply  if instead of  elif.
  3. We will not apply  elif in conjunction with  and. Thus, if we need to test two conditions that must be true at the same time, use  and instead of  elif.
  4. We will not apply  elif with  not. When we need to negate a condition in a block  elif, use it  not before the condition instead of making a new statement with  if not.
  5. We will not apply  elif without  if or  else. Therefore, if there is no condition in a block  elif, it will not be executed. Make sure you always include at least one condition in every block  elif.

Here is a code example that illustrates these tips:

list = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

if len(list) == 0:
    print("The list is empty")
elif len(list) == 1:
    print("The list has one element")
elif len(list) == 2:
    print("The list has two elements")
elif len(list) == 3:
    print("The list has three elements")
elif len(list) == 4:
    print("The list has four elements")
elif len(list)

How can we use elif in combination with other flow control structures in Python, such as for and while?

The  elif is a flow control structure in Python that is used to conditionally execute a block of code when a given test is true. The  elif is often used in conjunction with the  if and the  else to create various conditions in a flow control structure.

Although o  elif is often used in conjunction with o  if and o  else, we can also apply it in conjunction with other flow control structures in Python, such as  for e  while. Here are some examples:

With  for:

grades = [7, 8, 6, 9, 5, 10]

for note in notes:
    if grade < 6:
        print('Very low grade')
    elif note < 8:
        print('Low Grade')
    elif grade < 10:
        print('Average grade')
    else:
        print('High grade')

In this example, we are traversing the list of notes  notas using a loop for . For each iteration of the loop, we check the grade value and print a corresponding message based on the grade value. So if the grade is less than 6, we print “Very low grade”. Therefore, if the grade is between 6 and 8, inclusive, we print “Basic grade”. If the grade is between 8 and 10, inclusive, we print “Average grade”. If the grade is greater than 10, we print “High grade”.

With  while:

counter = 0

while counter < 5:
    if counter == 0:
        print('Starting counting')
    elif counter == 1:
        print('Counting by 1')
    elif counter == 2:
        print('Counting by 2')
    elif counter == 3:
        print('Counting by 3')
    elif counter == 4:
        print('Counting by 4')
    else:
        print('Completing count')
    counter += 1

In this example, we are running a loop while  that continues to execute the code inside the loop as long as the counter  contador is less than 5. So, for each iteration of the loop, we check the value of the counter and print a corresponding message.

In general,  elif is a powerful flow control framework, and we can use it in conjunction with other flow control frameworks in Python to create more complex and powerful algorithms.

How can we use elif in conjunction with sorting and sorting functions in Python?

We can use  elif in conjunction with sorting and sorting functions in Python to perform different actions according to the value returned by these functions. Here are some examples:

  1. Sort a list in ascending and descending order:
list = [3, 1, 4, 1, 5, 9, 2, 6, 5, 3, 5]

if len(list) == 0:
    print("The list is empty")
elif sorted(list):
    print("The list is sorted in ascending order")
elif reversed(list):
    print("The list is sorted in descending order")
else:
    print("The list is not sorted")

In this example, the function  sorted is used to sort the list in ascending order. Thus, if we keep the sorted list, the system will display the message ‘The list is sorted in ascending order. But, if the list has no order. The system will show the message “The list is not sorted”.

  1. Sort a list of integers into multiple ranges:
list = [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]

if len(list) == 0:
    print("The list is empty")
elif list[:5]:
    print("The numbers from 0 to 4 are present in the list")
elif list[5:]:
    print("The numbers from 5 to 9 are present in the list")
elif list[:10]:
    print("The numbers from 0 to 9 are present in the list")
else:
    print("No number is present in the list")

In this example, we split the list into ranges using the slicing operator. Thus, if the list contains numbers from 0 to 4. The system will display the message “The list contains numbers from 0 to 4”. But, if the list has numbers from 5 to 9. The system will show the message “The list contains numbers from 5 to 9”. And if we include all numbers from 0 to 9 in the list, the system will display the message “The list contains numbers from 0 to 9”.

In summary, we can use elif in various ways in conjunction with sorting and sorting functions in Python to perform different actions according to the value these functions return.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the  elif is a powerful keyword in Python that allows you to create more efficient and neat conditional flow control structures. Allowing you to test multiple conditions in a single flow control structure, which makes the code cleaner and easier to understand.

Also,  elif is very useful when we need to execute different blocks of code based on various conditions. This structure allows us to perform different conditions and execute different blocks of code for each of them.

Although  elif and  if in Python have some important differences, both are fundamental to creating effective, well-structured Python programs. So, when we start to learn Python or want to improve our programming skills. It is important to understand how we can use and  elif correctly  if  and if else in our programs.

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Schenia T

Data scientist, passionate about technology tools and games. Undergraduate student in Statistics at UFPB. Her hobby is binge-watching series, enjoying good music working or cooking, going to the movies and learning new things!