2.11. if Statement

The standard if conditional statement follows this syntax:

						if
						expression:
						if_suite
					

If the expression is non-zero or true, then the statement suite is executed; otherwise, execution continues on the first statement after. “Suite” is the term used in Python to refer to a sub-block of code and can consist of single or multiple statements.

>>> if counter > 5:
…       print 'stopping after 5 iterations'
…       break
					

Python supports an else statement that is used with if in the following manner:

						if expression:
      if_suite
						else:
						else_suite
					

Python has an “else-if” statement named elif which has the following syntax:

						if
						expression1:
						if_suite
						elif
						expression2:
						elif_suite
						else:
						else_suite
					

Another surprise: There is no switch or case statement in Python. This may also seem strange and/or detracting at first, but a set of if-elif-else statements are not as “ugly” because of Python's clean syntax. If you really want to circumvent a set of chained if-elif-else statements, another elegant workaround is using a for loop (see below) to iterate through your list of possible “cases.”

You can learn more about if, elif, and else statements in the conditional section of Chapter 8.