Possible Duplicate:
Putting a simple if-then statement on one line
I am working on a python expression and I want that expression to be compressed than using the if else statement.
s = [1, 2, 3, 4]
if len(s)>5:
print s.index(5)
else:
print 'cant print'
Is there a better way than using as if else statement?
Short, but very obfuscated (don't do this):
print 'ny'[len(s) > 5]
[edit] the reason you should never do this, is because it uses properties of the language that are little known to most people, i.e. that bool is a subclass of int. In most situations where you find yourself writing code like the OP, it's usually better to create a flag variable
s_is_long = len(s) > 5
then you can use any of the more appropriate ways to write the print, e.g.:
print 'y' if s_is_long else 'n'
or
print {True: 'y', False: 'n'}[s_is_long]
or the most readable of all...
if s_is_long:
print 'y'
else:
print 'n'
Short and clear:
s = [1, 2, 3, 4]
output = {True: 'y',False: 'n'}
print output[len(s) > 5]