Single Line If in Python

Summary: In this python tutorial, we will learn to write a single line if statement in Python with examples.

The general syntax for single-line If statement in Python is:

 if  else 

The simplest example of this would be:

animal = "dog"
print("Yes") if animal == "dog" else print("No")

Output: Yes

Now if we try writing the single line if statement then it will give invalid syntax error, hence it is usually termed as ternary operator expression than an if-else statement.

If you are confused with the above statement, you can still use the standard python if statement as a single line. Let’s see an example.

animal = "dog"
if animal == "dog": print("Yes")

Output: Yes

Now if we try adding else statement in the same line then it will give invalid syntax error.

animal = "dog"
if animal == "dog": print("Yes") else: print("No") 

File "main.py", line 2
if animal == "dog": print("Yes") else: print("No")
^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax

Because of this reason, programmers usually don’t like writing a single line ‘if statement’ in Python.