Making Choices

Last updated on 2024-06-24 | Edit this page

Estimated time: 30 minutes

Overview

Questions

  • How can my programs do different things based on data values?

Objectives

  • Write conditional statements including if, elif, and else branches.
  • Correctly evaluate expressions containing and and or.

In our last lesson, we discovered something suspicious was going on in our inflammation data by drawing some plots. How can we use Python to automatically recognize the different features we saw, and take a different action for each? In this lesson, we’ll learn how to write code that runs only when certain conditions are true.

Conditionals

We can ask Python to take different actions, depending on a condition, with an if statement:

The following example will lead to a syntax error in the Python prompt, as it seems to expect exactly one top-level statement per invocation. Removing print('done') from the example will fix the problem.

IPython executes the example from a single prompt without throwing an error.

PYTHON 

num = 37
if num > 100:
    print('greater')
else:
    print('not greater')
print('done')

OUTPUT 

not greater
done

The second line of this code uses the keyword if to tell Python that we want to make a choice. If the test that follows the if statement is true, the body of the if (i.e., the set of lines indented underneath it) is executed, and “greater” is printed. If the test is false, the body of the else is executed instead, and “not greater” is printed. Only one or the other is ever executed before continuing on with program execution to print “done”:

A flowchart diagram of the if-else construct that tests if variable num is greater than 100

Conditional statements don’t have to include an else. If there isn’t one, Python simply does nothing if the test is false:

PYTHON 

num = 53
print('before conditional...')
if num > 100:
    print(num, 'is greater than 100')
print('...after conditional')

OUTPUT 

before conditional...
...after conditional

We can also chain several tests together using elif, which is short for “else if”. The following Python code uses elif to print the sign of a number.

PYTHON 

num = -3

if num > 0:
    print(num, 'is positive')
elif num == 0:
    print(num, 'is zero')
else:
    print(num, 'is negative')

OUTPUT 

-3 is negative

Note that to test for equality we use a double equals sign == rather than a single equals sign = which is used to assign values.

Comparing in Python

Along with the > and == operators we have already used for comparing values in our conditionals, there are a few more options to know about:

  • >: greater than
  • <: less than
  • ==: equal to
  • !=: does not equal
  • >=: greater than or equal to
  • <=: less than or equal to

We can also combine tests using and and or.

An and expression is only true if both parts are true:

PYTHON 

if (1 > 0) and (-1 >= 0):
    print('both parts are true')
else:
    print('at least one part is false')

OUTPUT 

at least one part is false

while or is true if at least one part is true:

PYTHON 

if (1 < 0) or (1 >= 0):
    print('at least one test is true')

OUTPUT 

at least one test is true

Booleans

True and False are special words in Python. They are a type of data called booleans, which represent truth values. A statement such as 1 < 0 returns the value False, while -1 < 0 returns the value True.

Checking our Data

Now that we’ve seen how conditionals work, we can use them to check for the suspicious features we saw in our inflammation data. If you’re starting this session fresh, make sure to set up your notebook:

If did not continue in the same notebook directly from the last time you accessed Google Drive, you need the following lines:

PYTHON 

from google.colab import drive
drive.mount('/content/drive') # You will need to grant Google several access permissions
file_path = '/content/drive/MyDrive/swc-python/data/'

import numpy
data = numpy.loadtxt(fname=file_path+'inflammation-01.csv', delimiter=',')

From the first couple of plots, we saw that maximum daily inflammation exhibits a strange behavior and raises one unit a day. Wouldn’t it be a good idea to detect such behavior and report it as suspicious? Let’s do that! However, instead of checking every single day of the study, let’s merely check if maximum inflammation in the beginning (day 0) and in the middle (day 20) of the study are equal to the corresponding day numbers.

PYTHON 

max_inflammation_0 = numpy.amax(data, axis=0)[0]
max_inflammation_20 = numpy.amax(data, axis=0)[20]

if max_inflammation_0 == 0 and max_inflammation_20 == 20:
    print('Suspicious looking maxima!')

We also saw a different problem in the third dataset; the minima per day were all zero (looks like a healthy person snuck into our study). We can also check for this with an elif condition:

PYTHON 

elif numpy.sum(numpy.amin(data, axis=0)) == 0:
    print('Minima add up to zero!')

And if neither of these conditions are true, we can use else to give the all-clear:

PYTHON 

else:
    print('Seems OK!')

Let’s test that out:

PYTHON 

data = numpy.loadtxt(fname=file_path+'inflammation-01.csv', delimiter=',')

max_inflammation_0 = numpy.amax(data, axis=0)[0]
max_inflammation_20 = numpy.amax(data, axis=0)[20]

if max_inflammation_0 == 0 and max_inflammation_20 == 20:
    print('Suspicious looking maxima!')
elif numpy.sum(numpy.amin(data, axis=0)) == 0:
    print('Minima add up to zero!')
else:
    print('Seems OK!')

OUTPUT 

Suspicious looking maxima!

PYTHON 

data = numpy.loadtxt(fname=file_path+'inflammation-03.csv', delimiter=',')

max_inflammation_0 = numpy.amax(data, axis=0)[0]
max_inflammation_20 = numpy.amax(data, axis=0)[20]

if max_inflammation_0 == 0 and max_inflammation_20 == 20:
    print('Suspicious looking maxima!')
elif numpy.sum(numpy.amin(data, axis=0)) == 0:
    print('Minima add up to zero!')
else:
    print('Seems OK!')

OUTPUT 

Minima add up to zero!

In this way, we have asked Python to do something different depending on the condition of our data. Here we printed messages in all cases, but we could also imagine not using the else catch-all so that messages are only printed when something is wrong, freeing us from having to manually examine every plot for features we’ve seen before.

How Many Paths?

Consider this code:

PYTHON 

if 4 > 5:
    print('A')
elif 4 == 5:
    print('B')
elif 4 < 5:
    print('C')

Which of the following would be printed if you were to run this code? Why did you pick this answer?

  1. A
  2. B
  3. C
  4. B and C

C gets printed because the first two conditions, 4 > 5 and 4 == 5, are not true, but 4 < 5 is true. In this case only one of these conditions can be true for at a time, but in other scenarios multiple elif conditions could be met. In these scenarios only the action associated with the first true elif condition will occur, starting from the top of the conditional section. A flowchart diagram of a conditional section with multiple elif conditions and some possible outcomes. This contrasts with the case of multiple if statements, where every action can occur as long as their condition is met. A flowchart diagram of a conditional section with multiple if statements and some possible outcomes.

What Is Truth?

True and False booleans are not the only values in Python that are true and false. In fact, any value can be used in an if or elif. After reading and running the code below, explain what the rule is for which values are considered true and which are considered false.

PYTHON 

if '':
    print('empty string is true')
if 'word':
    print('word is true')
if []:
    print('empty list is true')
if [1, 2, 3]:
    print('non-empty list is true')
if 0:
    print('zero is true')
if 1:
    print('one is true')

That’s Not Not What I Meant

Sometimes it is useful to check whether some condition is not true. The Boolean operator not can do this explicitly. After reading and running the code below, write some if statements that use not to test the rule that you formulated in the previous challenge.

PYTHON 

if not '':
    print('empty string is not true')
if not 'word':
    print('word is not true')
if not not True:
    print('not not True is true')

Close Enough

Write some conditions that print True if the variable a is within 10% of the variable b and False otherwise. Try changing the values of a and b. Are your results accurate for each pair of values?

There is a built-in function abs that returns the absolute value of a number:

PYTHON 

print(abs(-12))

OUTPUT 

12

PYTHON 

a = 5
b = 5.1

if abs(a - b) <= 0.1 * abs(b):
    print('True')
else:
    print('False')

PYTHON 

print(abs(a - b) <= 0.1 * abs(b))

This works because the Booleans True and False have string representations which can be printed.

Try the following challenge if you want to learn some new operators and use your conditional writing skills at the same time.

Python (and most other languages in the C family) provides in-place operators that work like this:

PYTHON 

x = 1  # original value
x += 1 # add one to x, assigning result back to x
x *= 3 # multiply x by 3
print(x)

OUTPUT 

6

Write some code that sums the positive and negative numbers in a list separately, using in-place operators. Do you think the result is more or less readable than writing the same without in-place operators?

 

PYTHON 

positive_sum = 0
negative_sum = 0
test_list = [3, 4, 6, 1, -1, -5, 0, 7, -8]
for num in test_list:
    if num > 0:
        positive_sum += num
    elif num == 0:
        pass
    else:
        negative_sum += num
print(positive_sum, negative_sum)

Here pass means “don’t do anything”. In this particular case, it’s not actually needed, since if num == 0 neither sum needs to change, but it illustrates the use of elif and pass.

Sorting a List Into Buckets

In our data folder, large data sets are stored in files whose names start with “inflammation-” and small data sets – in files whose names start with “small-”. We also have some other files that we do not care about at this point. We’d like to break all these files into three lists called large_files, small_files, and other_files, respectively.

Add code to the template below to do this. Note that the string method startswith returns True if and only if the string it is called on starts with the string passed as an argument, that is:

PYTHON 

'String'.startswith('Str')

OUTPUT 

True

But

PYTHON 

'String'.startswith('str')

OUTPUT 

False

Use the Python code below as your starting point. (To keep it simple, we’ll use the following list with only five filenames in it, but if you do it right, your code should work just as well with five hundred filenames!)

PYTHON 

filenames = ['inflammation-01.csv',
         'myscript.py',
         'inflammation-02.csv',
         'small-01.csv',
         'small-02.csv']
large_files = []
small_files = []
other_files = []

Your solution should:

  1. loop over the names of the files
  2. figure out which group each filename belongs in
  3. append the filename to that list

In the end the three lists should be:

PYTHON 

large_files = ['inflammation-01.csv', 'inflammation-02.csv']
small_files = ['small-01.csv', 'small-02.csv']
other_files = ['myscript.py']

PYTHON 

for filename in filenames:
    if filename.startswith('inflammation-'):
        large_files.append(filename)
    elif filename.startswith('small-'):
        small_files.append(filename)
    else:
        other_files.append(filename)

print('large_files:', large_files)
print('small_files:', small_files)
print('other_files:', other_files)

Try the following bonus challenge if you’d like more practice combining conditionals with loops.

  1. Write a loop that counts the number of vowels in a character string.
  2. Test it on a few individual words and full sentences.
  3. Once you are done, compare your solution to your neighbor’s. Did you make the same decisions about how to handle the letter ‘y’ (which some people think is a vowel, and some do not)?

 

PYTHON 

vowels = 'aeiouAEIOU'
sentence = 'Mary had a little lamb.'
count = 0
for char in sentence:
    if char in vowels:
        count += 1

print('The number of vowels in this string is ' + str(count))

Thanks for traveling with us so far! You’ve seen Numpy (critical for working with datasets), Matplotlib (a great way to visualize data) and a plethora of important computing fundamentals. If we run out of time cover episode 8, functions are a really powerful programming concept so we encourage you to give it a try using this website.

Key Points

  • Use if condition to start a conditional statement, elif condition to provide additional tests, and else to provide a default.
  • The bodies of the branches of conditional statements must be indented.
  • Use == to test for equality.
  • X and Y is only true if both X and Y are true.
  • X or Y is true if either X or Y, or both, are true.
  • Zero, the empty string, and the empty list are considered false; all other numbers, strings, and lists are considered true.
  • True and False represent truth values.