How to use python if else in one line with examples

How do I write a simple python if else in one line? What are ternary operator in Python? Can we use one liner for complex if and else statements?

In this tutorial I will share different examples to help you understand and learn about usage of ternary operator in one liner if and else condition with Python. Conditional expressions (sometimes called a “ternary operator”) have the lowest priority of all Python operations. Programmers coming to Python from C, C++, or Perl sometimes miss the so-called ternary operator ?:. It’s most often used for avoiding a few lines of code and a temporary variable for simple decisions.

I will not go into details of generic ternary operator as this is used across Python for loops and control flow statements. Here we will concentrate on learning python if else in one line using ternary operator

 

Python if else in one line

Syntax

The general syntax of single if and else statement in Python is:

if condition:
   value_when_true
else:
   value_when_false

Now if we wish to write this in one line using ternary operator, the syntax would be:

value_when_true if condition else value_when_false

In this syntax, first of all the else condition is evaluated.

• If condition returns True then value_when_true is returned
• If condition returns False then value_when_false is returned

Similarly if you had a variable assigned in the general if else block based on the condition

if condition:
    value = true-expr
else:
    value = false-expr

The same can be written in single line:

value = true-expr if condition else false-expr

Here as well, first of all the condition is evaluated.

• if condition returns True then true-expr is assigned to value object
• if condition returns False then false-expr is assigned to value object

For simple cases like this, I find it very nice to be able to express that logic in one line instead of four. Remember, as a coder, you spend much more time reading code than writing it, so Python's conciseness is invaluable.

Some important points to remember:

• You can use a ternary expression in Python, but only for expressions, not for statements
• You cannot use Python if..elif..else block in one line.
• The name "ternary" means there are just 3 parts to the operator: condition, then, and else.
• Although there are hacks to modify if..elif..else block into if..else block and then use it in single line but that can be complex depending upon conditions and should be avoided
• With if-else blocks, only one of the expressions will be executed.
• While it may be tempting to always use ternary expressions to condense your code, realise that you may sacrifice readability if the condition as well as the true and false expressions are very complex.

 

Python Script Example

This is a simple script where we use comparison operator in our if condition

• First collect user input in the form of integer and store this value into b
• If b is greater than or equal to 0 then return "positive" which will be True condition
• If b returns False i.e. above condition was not success then return "negative"
• The final returned value i.e. either "positive" or "negative" is stored in object a
• Lastly print the value of value a

#!/usr/bin/env python3

b = int(input("Enter value for b: "))

a = "positive" if b >= 0 else "negative"

print(a)

The multi-line form of this code would be:

#!/usr/bin/env python3

b = int(input("Enter value for b: "))

if b >= 0:
   a = "positive"
else:
   a = "negative"

print(a)

Output:

# python3 /tmp/if_else_one_line.py
Enter value for b: 10
positive

# python3 /tmp/if_else_one_line.py
Enter value for b: -10
negative

 

Python if..elif..else in one line

Now as I told this earlier, it is not possible to use if..elif..else block in one line using ternary expressions. Although we can hack our way into this but make sure the maximum allowed length of a line in Python is 79 as per PEP-8 Guidelines

Syntax

We have this if..elif..else block where we return expression based on the condition check:

if condition1:
    expr1
elif condition2:
    expr2
else:
    expr

We can write this if..elif..else block in one-line using this syntax:

expr1 if condition1 else expr2 if condition2 else expr

In this syntax,

• First of all condition2 is evaluated, if return True then expr2 is returned
• If condition2 returns False then condition1 is evaluated, if return True then expr1 is returned
• If condition1 also returns False then else is executed and expr is returned

As you see, it was easier if we read this in multi-line if..elif..else block while the same becomes hard to understand for beginners.

We can add multiple if else block in this syntax, but we must also adhere to PEP-8 guidelines

expr1 if condition1 else expr2 if condition2 else expr-n if condition-n else expr

 

Python Script Example-1

In this sample script we collect an integer value from end user and store it in "b". The order of execution would be:

• If the value of b is less than 0 then "neg" is returned
• If the value of b is greater than 0 then "pos" is returned.
• If both the condition return False, then "zero" is returned

#!/usr/bin/env python3

b = int(input("Enter value for b: "))
a = "neg" if b < 0 else "pos" if b > 0 else "zero"

print(a)

The multi-line form of the code would be:

#!/usr/bin/env python3

b = int(input("Enter value for b: "))

if b < 0:
   a = "neg"
elif b > 0:
   a = "pos"
else:
   zero

print(a)

Output(when if condition is True)

# python3 /tmp/if_else_one_line.py
Enter value for b: -5
neg

Output(when if condition is False and elif condition is True)

# python3 /tmp/if_else_one_line.py
Enter value for b: 5
pos

Output(when both if and elif condition are False)

# python3 /tmp/if_else_one_line.py
Enter value for b: 0
zero

 

Python script Example-2

We will add some more else blocks in this sample script, the order of the check would be in below sequence:

• Collect user input for value b which will be converted to integer type
• If value of b is equal to 100 then return "equal to 100", If this returns False then next if else condition would be executed
• If value of b is equal to 50 then return "equal to 50", If this returns False then next if else condition would be executed
• If value of b is equal to 40 then return "equal to 40", If this returns False then next if else condition would be executed
• If value of b is greater than 100 then return "greater than 100", If this returns False then next go to else block
• Lastly if all the condition return False then return "less than hundred"

#!/usr/bin/env python3

b = int(input("Enter value for b: "))

a = "equal to 100" if b == 100 else "equal to 50" if b == 50 else "equal to 40" if b == 40 else "greater than 100" if b > 100 else "less than 100"
print(a)

The multi-line form of this example would be:

#!/usr/bin/env python3

b = int(input("Enter value for b: "))

if b == 100:
   a = "equal to 100"
elif b == 50:
   a = "equal to 50"
elif b == 40:
   a = "equal to 40"
elif b > 100:
   a = "greater than 100"
else:
   a = "less than 100"

print(a)

Output:

# python3 /tmp/if_else_one_line.py
Enter value for b: 50
equal to 50

# python3 /tmp/if_else_one_line.py
Enter value for b: 110
greater than 100

# python3 /tmp/if_else_one_line.py
Enter value for b: -12
less than 100

# python3 /tmp/if_else_one_line.py
Enter value for b: 40
equal to 40

 

Python nested if..else in one line

We can also use ternary expression to define nested if..else block on one line with Python.

Syntax

If you have a multi-line code using nested if else block, something like this:

if condition1:
    expr1
elif condition-m:
    expr-m
else:
    if condition3:
	   expr3
	elif condition-n:
	   expr-n
	else:
	   expr5

The one line syntax to use this nested if else block in Python would be:

expr1 if condition1 else expr2 if condition 2 else (expr3 if condition3 else expr4 if condition 4 else expr5)

Here, we have added nested if..elif..else inside the else block using ternary expression. The sequence of the check in the following order

• If condition1 returns True then expr1 is returned, if it returns False then next condition is checked
• If condition-m returns True then expr-m is returned, if it returns False then else block with nested if..elif..else is checked
• If condition3 returns True then expr3 is returned, if it returns False then next condition inside the nested block is returned
• If condition-n returns True then expr-n is returned, if it returns False then expr5 is returned from the else condition

 

Python Script Example

In this example I am using nested if else inside the else block of our one liner. The order of execution will be in the provided sequence:

• First of all collect integer value of b from the end user
• If the value of b is equal to 100 then the if condition returns True and "equal to 100" is returned
• If the value of b is equal to 50 then the elif condition returns True and "equal to 50" is returned
• If both if and elif condition returns False then the else block is executed where we have nested if and else condition
• Inside the else block, if b is greater than 100 then it returns "greater than 100" and if it returns False then "less than 100" is returned

#!/usr/bin/env python3

b = int(input("Enter value for b: "))

a = "equal to 100" if b == 100 else "equal to 50" if b == 50 else ("greater than 100" if b > 100 else "less than 100")
print(a)

The multi-line form of this code would be:

#!/usr/bin/env python3

b = int(input("Enter value for b: "))

if b == 100:
    a = "equal to 100"
elif b == 50:
    a = "equal to 50"
else:
    if b > 100:
        a = "greater than 100"
    else:
        a = "less than 100"

print(a)

Output:

# python3 /tmp/if_else_one_line.py
Enter value for b: 10
less than 100

# python3 /tmp/if_else_one_line.py
Enter value for b: 100
equal to 100

# python3 /tmp/if_else_one_line.py
Enter value for b: 50
equal to 50

# python3 /tmp/if_else_one_line.py
Enter value for b: 110
greater than 100

 

Conclusion

In this tutorial we learned about usage of ternary operator in if else statement to be able to use it in one line. Although Python does not allow if..elif..else statement in one line but we can still break it into if else and then use it in single line form. Similarly we can also use nested if with ternary operator in single line. I shared multiple examples to help you understand the concept of ternary operator with if and else statement of Python programming language

Lastly I hope this tutorial guide on python if else one line was helpful. So, let me know your suggestions and feedback using the comment section.