else — Advanced Playground

Catch-all branch when preceding if/elif conditions are all false

Python Playground

# All three uses of else
def find_and_process(data, target):
    # try/else: handle import errors
    try:
        from math import sqrt
    except ImportError:
        print("No math module")
    else:
        print(f"sqrt available: {sqrt(16)}")

    # for/else: search pattern
    for i, val in enumerate(data):
        if val == target:
            print(f"Found {target} at index {i}")
            break
    else:
        print(f"{target} not in data")

    # if/else: process result
    if target in data:
        idx = data.index(target)
        if idx % 2 == 0:
            print("Found at even index")
        else:
            print("Found at odd index")
    else:
        print("Cannot process: not found")

find_and_process([10, 20, 30, 40], 30)
print()
find_and_process([10, 20, 30, 40], 99)

Output

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Python uses 'else' in three contexts: if/else (condition), for-else/while-else (no break), and try/else (no exception). Each serves a different purpose.

Challenge

Try modifying the code above to explore different behaviors. Can you extend the example to handle a new use case?

View all Advanced examples for else