Conditional statements allow us to make decisions and perform different actions based on whether a condition is `True` or `False`. The most common conditional statement in Python is the `if` statement. It allows us to execute a block of code only if a certain condition is true. Here's an example:
age = 15
if age >= 18:
print("You are old enough to vote!")In this example, we have a variable called `age` with a value of `15`. The `if` statement checks if the condition `age >= 18` is true. If it is, the code inside the `if` block (indented with four spaces) will be executed. In this case, since `age` is not greater than or equal to `18`, the code inside the `if` block will not be executed. You can also include an `else` statement to specify what should happen if the condition is false. Here's an example:
age = 15
if age >= 18:
print("You are old enough to vote!")
else:
print("You are not old enough to vote yet.")You are not old enough to vote yet.
In this code, if the condition `age >= 18` is true, the code inside the `if` block will be executed. Otherwise, the code inside the `else` block will be executed. You can also use the `elif` statement (short for "else if") to check multiple conditions. Here's an example:
age = 15
if age >= 18:
print("You are old enough to vote!")
elif age >= 16:
print("You can get a driver's license!")
else:
print("You are not old enough to vote or get a driver's license yet.")You are not old enough to vote or get a driver's license yet.
In this code, the first condition `age >= 18` is checked. If it is true, the code inside the first `if` block will be executed. If it is false, the next condition `age >= 16` is checked. If it is true, the code inside the `elif` block will be executed. If both conditions are false, the code inside the `else` block will be executed. Conditional statements are very useful for controlling the flow of your program based on different conditions. They allow us to make decisions and perform different actions depending on the situation. If you want to repeat actions until a condition is met, read about the [while loop](/tutorials/while).