The if-elif-else Statement

The if-else statement handles two sides of the same condition: True and False. This works very well if we’re working with a problem that only has two outcomes. However, in programming, it isn’t always a True or False scenario, and a problem can have multiple outcomes. For instance, a grading program may have only pass or fail outcomes, but more often there are multiple different grades that are possible. This is where the if-elif-else statement shines. It is the most comprehensive conditional statement because it allows us to create multiple conditions easily. The elif stands for else if, indicating that if the previous condition fails, try this one.

Structure

The if and else blocks will remain the same. The elif statement comes in between the two.

Let’s write an if-elif-else statement which checks the state of a traffic signal and generates the appropriate response. Our AI Mentor can explain the code as well.

Now, our conditional statement caters to all possible values of light.

Try changing the value and see how the response changes.

Multiple elif Statements

This is the beauty of the if-elif-else statement. We can have as many elif statements as we require, as long as they come between if and else.

Note: An if-elif statement can exist on its own without an else block at the end. However, an elif cannot exist without an if statement preceding it (which naturally makes sense).

Let’s write a piece of code that checks whether the value of an integer is in the range of 0-9 and prints the word in English: