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Python Python Basics Types and Branching Comparisons

Posted by nicolaspeterson
nicolaspeterson
8,569 Points

What's the difference between if and elif?

I don't quite get why we needed elif for the demo in this video. What is the utility of using elif instead of multiple if statements?

1 Answer

Chris Freeman
MOD
Chris Freeman
Treehouse Moderator 68,441 Points
Chris Freeman
Chris Freeman
Treehouse Moderator 68,441 Points

Hey nicolaspeterson, good question.

The advantage of an if followed by elif as opposed to two if statements is that the elif (and any subsequent else code blocks) are only executed if the first if condition evaluates as FALSE.

Logically the elif can assume the previous if (and previous elif) statements have evaluated falsely.

One example is the classic FizzBuzz solution:

div3 = num % 3 == 0
div5 = num % 5 == 0
if div3 and div5:
    print(f”{num} is FIZZBUZZ!”)
elif div3:
    print(f”{num} is FIZZ”)
elif div5:
    print(f”{num} is BUZZ!”)
else:
    print(f”{num} is {num}!”)

if the above simply used all if statements, multiple strings would print when a number is divisible by 15.

Post back if you need more help. Good luck!!!