Conditional Execution

Chapter 3

Python for Informatics: Exploring Information

www.pythonlearn.com

Conditional Steps

x=5

Yes

X < 10 ?

No

print 'Smaller'

X > 20 ?

No
print 'Finis'

Program:

Yes

x=5
if x < 10:
print 'Smaller

print 'Bigger'

if x > 20:
print 'Bigger'
print 'Finis'

Output:
Smaller
Finis

Comparison Operators
Boolean expressions ask a
question and produce a Yes or
No result which we use to
control program flow
Boolean expressions using
comparison operators evaluate
to - True / False - Yes / No
Comparison operators look at
variables but do not change the
variables

Python

Meaning

<
<=
==
>=
>
!=

Less than
Less than or Equal
Equal to
Greater than or Equal
Greater than
Not equal

Remember: = is used for assignment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Boole

Comparison Operators
x = 5
if x == 5 :
print 'Equals 5'
if x > 4 :
print 'Greater than 4'
if x >= 5 :
print 'Greater than or Equals 5'
if x < 6 : print 'Less than 6'
if x <= 5 :
print 'Less than or Equals 5'
if x != 6 :
print 'Not equal 6'

Equals 5
Greater than 4
Greater than or Equals 5
Less than 6
Less than or Equals 5
Not equal 6

One-Way Decisions
x = 5
print 'Before 5'
if x == 5 :
print 'Is 5'
print 'Is Still 5'
print 'Third 5'
print 'Afterwards 5
print 'Before 6
if x == 6 :
print 'Is 6'
print 'Is Still 6'
print 'Third 6'
print 'Afterwards 6'

Yes
Before 5
Is 5
Is Still 5
Third 5
Afterwards
5
Before 6
Afterwards
6

X == 5 ?

No

print 'Is 5'

print 'Still 5'
print 'Third 5'

Indentation
Increase indent indent after an if statement or for statement (after : )
Maintain indent to indicate the scope of the block (which lines are affected
by the if/for)
Reduce indent back to the level of the if statement or for statement to
indicate the end of the block
Blank lines are ignored - they do not affect indentation
Comments on a line by themselves are ignored with regard to indentation

Warning: Turn Off Tabs

Most text editors can turn tabs into spaces - make sure to enable this feature
> NotePad++: Settings -> Preferences -> Language Menu/Tab Settings
> TextWrangler: TextWrangler -> Preferences -> Editor Defaults
Python cares a *lot* about how far a line is indented. If you mix tabs and
spaces, you may get indentation errors even if everything looks fine

Please do this now while you are thinking about it so we can all stay sane...

This will save you

much unnecessary
pain.

increase / maintain after if or for

decrease to indicate end of block
x = 5
if x > 2 :
print 'Bigger than 2'
print 'Still bigger'
print 'Done with 2'
for i in range(5) :
print i
if i > 2 :
print 'Bigger than 2'
print 'Done with i', i
print 'All Done'

Think about begin/end blocks

x = 5
if x > 2 :
print 'Bigger than 2'
print 'Still bigger'
print 'Done with 2'
for i in range(5) :
print i
if i > 2 :
print 'Bigger than 2'
print 'Done with i', i
print 'All Done'

Nested
Decisions

x>1

no

x = 42
if x > 1 :
print 'More than one'
if x < 100 :
print 'Less than 100'
print 'All done'

yes

print 'More than one'

x < 100

no

print 'All Done'

yes

print 'Less than 100'

Two-way
Decisions
Sometimes we want to
do one thing if a logical
expression is true and
something else if the
expression is false
It is like a fork in the
road - we must choose
one or the other path
but not both

X=4

no

x>2

print 'Not bigger'

yes

print 'Bigger'

print 'All Done'

Two-way
using else :

x=4

no

x>2

yes

x = 4
if x > 2 :
print 'Bigger'
else :
print 'Smaller'
print 'All done'

print 'Smaller'

print 'Bigger'

print 'All Done'

Two-way
using else :

x=4

no

x>2

yes

x = 4
if x > 2 :
print 'Bigger'
else :
print 'Smaller'
print 'All done'

print 'Smaller'

print 'Bigger'

print 'All Done'

Multi-way
yes

x<2
if x < 2 :
print 'small'
elif x < 10 :
print 'Medium'
else :
print 'LARGE'
print 'All done'

print 'small'

no

x < 10
no
print 'LARGE'

print 'All Done'

yes

print 'Medium'

Multi-way

x=0
yes

x<2
x = 0
if x < 2 :
print 'small'
elif x < 10 :
print 'Medium'
else :
print 'LARGE'
print 'All done'

print 'small'

no

x < 10
no
print 'LARGE'

print 'All Done'

yes

print 'Medium'

Multi-way

x=5
yes

x<2
x = 5
if x < 2 :
print 'small'
elif x < 10 :
print 'Medium'
else :
print 'LARGE'
print 'All done'

print 'small'

no

x < 10
no
print 'LARGE'

print 'All Done'

yes

print 'Medium'

Multi-way

x = 20
yes

x<2
x = 20
if x < 2 :
print 'small'
elif x < 10 :
print 'Medium'
else :
print 'LARGE'
print 'All done'

print 'small'

no

x < 10
no
print 'LARGE'

print 'All Done'

yes

print 'Medium'

Multi-way
# No Else
x = 5
if x < 2 :
print 'Small'
elif x < 10 :
print 'Medium'
print 'All done'

if x < 2 :
print 'Small'
elif x < 10 :
print 'Medium'
elif x < 20 :
print 'Big'
elif x < 40 :
print 'Large'
elif x < 100:
print 'Huge'
else :
print 'Ginormous'

Multi-way Puzzles
Which will never print?
if x < 2 :
print 'Below 2'
elif x >= 2 :
print 'Two or more'
else :
print 'Something else'

if x < 2 :
print 'Below 2'
elif x < 20 :
print 'Below 20'
elif x < 10 :
print 'Below 10'
else :
print 'Something else'

The try / except Structure

You surround a dangerous section of code with try and except
If the code in the try works - the except is skipped
If the code in the try fails - it jumps to the except section

$ cat notry.py
astr = 'Hello Bob'
istr = int(astr)
print 'First', istr
astr = '123'
istr = int(astr)
print 'Second', istr

$ python notry.py
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "notry.py", line 2, in <module>
istr = int(astr)ValueError: invalid literal
for int() with base 10: 'Hello Bob'
All
Done

The
program
stops
here

$ cat notry.py
astr = 'Hello Bob'
istr = int(astr)
print 'First', istr
astr = '123
istr = int(astr)
print 'Second', istr

$ python notry.py
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "notry.py", line 2, in <module>
istr = int(astr)ValueError: invalid literal
for int() with base 10: 'Hello Bob'
All
Done

Software
Input
Devices

Generic
Computer

Central
Processing
Unit
Secondary
Memory

Output
Devices

Main
Memory

$ cat tryexcept.py
astr = 'Hello Bob'
try:
istr = int(astr)
except:
istr = -1
print 'First', istr
astr = '123'
try:
istr = int(astr)
except:
istr = -1
print 'Second', istr

When the first conversion fails - it

just drops into the except: clause
and the program continues.

$ python tryexcept.py
First -1
Second 123

When the second conversion

succeeds - it just skips the except:
clause and the program continues.

try / except

astr = 'Bob'
print 'Hello'

astr = 'Bob'
try:
print 'Hello'
istr = int(astr)
print 'There'
except:
istr = -1

istr = int(astr)
print 'There'
istr = -1

print 'Done', istr

print 'Done', istr

Safety net

Sample try / except

rawstr = raw_input('Enter a number:')
try:
ival = int(rawstr)
except:
$ python trynum.py
ival = -1
Enter a number:42
Nice work
if ival > 0 :
$ python trynum.py
print 'Nice work'
Enter a number:forty-two
else:
Not a number
print 'Not a number'
$

Exercise
Rewrite your pay computation to give the employee
1.5 times the hourly rate for hours worked above 40
hours.
Enter Hours: 45
Enter Rate: 10
Pay: 475.0
475 = 40 * 10 + 5 * 15

Exercise
Rewrite your pay program using try and except so
that your program handles non-numeric input
gracefully.
Enter Hours: 20
Enter Rate: nine
Error, please enter numeric input
Enter Hours: forty
Error, please enter numeric input

Summary
Comparison operators
== <= >= > < !=

Two-way Decisions
if : and else :

Logical operators: and or not

Nested Decisions

Indentation

Multi-way decisions using

elif

One-way Decisions
Except to compensate for
errors

Try / Except to compensate

for errors

Acknowledgements / Contributions
These slides are Copyright 2010- Charles R. Severance (www.
dr-chuck.com) of the University of Michigan School of Information
and open.umich.edu and made available under a Creative
Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Please maintain this last slide
in all copies of the document to comply with the attribution
requirements of the license. If you make a change, feel free to
add your name and organization to the list of contributors on this
page as you republish the materials.
Initial Development: Charles Severance, University of Michigan
School of Information
Insert new Contributors and Translators here

...