Answer to Question #164729 in Python for Paul Carpenter

Question

Describe the difference between a chained conditional and a nested conditional. Give your own example of each. Do not copy examples from the textbook.

Deeply nested conditionals can become difficult to read. Describe a strategy for avoiding nested conditionals. Give your own example of a nested conditional that can be modified to become a single conditional, and show the equivalent single conditional. Do not copy the example from the textbook.

Answer 1

A chained conditional is when you use if/elif/else flow controls and they are all dedicated to the same depth of the function. No nesting in this case.

def fruit_color(fruit):
    if fruit == 'apple':
        print('red')
    elif fruit == 'banana':
        print('yellow')
    else fruit == 'pear':
        print('green')

A nested conditional is when you use if/elif/else flow controls and the conditionals may locate on different depth to create a more nuanced sequence of conditionals.

if a < b:
    print("a is less than b")
else:
    if a > b:
        print("a is greater than b")
    else:
        print("a and b must be equal")

Nesting is the key differentiator between a chained conditional and a nested conditional. When considering different ways of the function definition, some conditions may be combined or contracted to a simpler representation

def list_lenght(list1, list2):
	    if len(list1) == 8:
	        if len(list2) == 8:
	            print(f"{list1} is equal in size to {list2}")
	        else:
	            print(f"{list1} isn't equal in size to {list2}")
	    else:
	        print('They have different length!')
	

  def list_lenght2(list1, list2):
  	    if len(list1) == 8 and len(list2) == 8:
  	        print(f"{list1} is equal in size to {list2}")
  	    else:
  	        print(f"{list1} isn't equal in size to {list2}")