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Brian Pitts
Courses Plus Student 3,826 Pointswhen should the keyword "else" be included?
when does one include an "else" statement? For example,
if new_item == "DONE": break shopping_list.append(new_item)
VERSUS
if new_item=="DONE": break else: shopping_list.append(new_item)
I realize there is a "best practice" for writing python code which may suggest an answer. Either way works, but the second seems more explicit, albeit verbose. Any thoughts?
3 Answers
jcorum
71,830 PointsIf I understand you, there's a big difference. In pseudo-code:
if x < 2 then
do something
else if x < 3
do something else
else
do a third thing
That's quite different than:
if x < 2 then
do something
do something else
do a third thing
In the latter you will do something else and a third thing regardless of x's value. In the former, that's not the case.
Sorry if I misunderstood.
jcorum
71,830 PointsYes, I see. I missed your point. In such a case, agreed, there's no need for the else. Some might think it "safer", but I don't see it.
Brian Pitts
Courses Plus Student 3,826 PointsLet me be more specific. Please see the following code:
Both produce the same result, but the first example that omits "else" is more terse but less clear to me.