Conditional Statements: if, elif, else

Conditional structures allow a program to execute different blocks of code depending on the result of one or more conditions.

Basic Syntax:

if condition:
    # Code block if the condition is true
elif another_condition:
    # Block if the first was false and this one is true
else:
    # Block if none of the conditions were true

Example:

age = 20

if age < 18:
    print("You are a minor")
elif age >= 18 and age < 65:
    print("You are an adult")
else:
    print("You are a senior citizen")

Best Practices:

  • Use 4 spaces for indentation by convention (avoid mixing tabs and spaces).
  • Evaluate simple conditions first.
  • Avoid excessive nested elif statements when possible.