Chapter 3 - Conditionals

Conditionals

Lab - Conditionals

Lab - If Statement

Tutorial Lab 1: If Statements

The if statement allows for your program to make a decision about what it
should do. It asks a simple question, is this condition true? If yes, then the
computer will execute certain commands.

x = 5

if x < 10:
print("Less than 10")

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An if statement is comprised of the keyword if, followed by a boolean

expression, and a :. Any code that should run if the boolean expression is
true must be indented. In Python, programmers indent four spaces.

If the boolean expression is false, the indented code is skipped, and the
program continues as normal.
 x = 20

if x < 10:
print("Less than 10")

print("And the program continues...")

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Lab - If Else Statement

Tutorial Lab 2: If Else Statements

The if else statement gives your program the ability to ask a question,
perform actions if the answer is true, and perform another set of actions if
the answer is false.

x = 10

if x > 50:
print(str(x) + " is greater than 50")
else:
print(str(x) + " is less than 50")

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The if part of the if else statement is written as before. The else keyword is
not indented; it should be aligned with the if keyword. else is followed by
a :. You do not use a boolean expression with else. All code that should run
when the boolean expression is false must be indented four spaces.

Be careful when expression your boolean expression in terms of “less than

or greater than”. This does not take into account when the values being
compared are equal. Consider the code from above, but with x having the
value of 50.

x = 50

if x > 50:
print(str(x) + " is greater than 50")
else:
print(str(x) + " is less than 50")

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The output of the program does not make sense. 50 is not less than 50.
Sometimes using <= and >= need to be used. Be sure to think through all of
the possible outcomes, and make sure your code can function properly in
all of those scenarios.
Lab - Compound Conditional

Tutorial Lab 3: Compound Conditionals

Sometimes you need to have two more things to be true before specific
code can run. These are called compound conditionals because there are
multiple boolean expressions in the conditional statement. The boolean
expressions need to be linked together with either the and or or
statements.

x = 10

if x > 5 and x < 15:

print(str(x) + " is between 5 and 15")
else:
print(str(x) + " is not between 5 and 15")

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The code above will be true for any number that is greater than 5 and less
than 15. If x has the value of 5 or 15, then the boolean expression will be
false.

Compound Conditional And

If you take the same code and change and to or, you get a very different
program.
 x = 10

if x > 5 or x < 15:

print(str(x) + " is between 5 and 15")
else:
print(str(x) + " is not between 5 and 15")

Code Visualizer

It does not matter what value you give to x, the boolean expression will
always be true. The boolean expression is true even if x is 5 or 15.

Compound Conditional Or
Lab - If Elif Else Statement

Tutorial Lab 4: If Elif Else Statements

If Elif Else statements allow you to write a series of questions about the
value of a variable. This gives you more precision about the decisions you
can make. Here are the rules for using if elif else statements:

Start with the traditional if statement

Use the elif keyword followed by a conditional and a :
Use as many elif statements as necessary
End with the else keyword

michelin_stars = 3

if michelin_stars == 1:
print("This is a very good restaurant")
elif michelin_stars == 2:
print("This is an excellent restaurant")
else:
print("This restaurant is among the best in the world")

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The if elif else statements can also be faster than a series of if statements.
As soon as a boolean expression is true, Python stops computing the
remaining boolean expressions. Python will execute all of the if
statements, even if one of them is true.
Efficiency
Lab Challenge - Month of the Year

Conditionals Challenge
Write a program that determines the month of the year based on the value
of a variable called month. The variable will be a number from 1 to 12 ( 1 is
January, 2 is February, etc.). Use a print statement to write the month to
the screen.

Important, you will need to declare the variable month as you write and
test your code. However, do not submit your code to be graded with the
variable declaration. The auto-grader will declare the variable for you.

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