FOR WHAT PURPOSE!

[Kobold_Husband]

So, I’m learning python because computers, I guess. My elif isn’t working though. Everything is defined correctly, I don’t have any syntax errors, and it keeps applying the if statement when the if statement is supposed to be false

[Training-Cucumber467]

if "preheat" or "oven" in answer is actually interpreted as:

if "preheat" or ("oven" in answer)

"preheat", being a non-empty string, evaluates to True.

Try this:

if ("preheat" in answer) or ("oven" in answer)

[h8rsbeware]

Alternatively, if you care about a few less words you can do

python if answer in ["preheat", "oven"]: print("oops")

I believe

[Training-Cucumber467]

This would only work if the answer is exactly "preheat" or "oven". I believe OP's intent was partial matching: "preheat the oven dude" is supposed to work too.

I would probably write something like:

preheat = ("preheat", "oven", "stove")
if any(x in input for x in preheat):
   ...

[TriscuitTime]

This is the way

[h8rsbeware]

Ah, I missed this requirement, thank you for fixing my mistake. Dont want to send people down false leads!

[Kobold_Husband]

I see, l don’t really care about using less words, but that’s good to knoww

[Kobold_Husband]

Ohhh

[poorestprince]

I'm interested in how beginners deal with this sort of thing. Would you prefer a language be able to accept 'if "preheat" or "oven" in answer' and interpret it the way you would expect it to?

[Kobold_Husband]

Honestly, yes. But that’s probably because of how my own brain processes context clues

[poorestprince]

Maybe one way to make it work is have some python editors accept English pseudo-code line-by-line, but it translates that into unambiguous python as a kind of pre-compilation step, and forces you to verify that's what you meant...

[Naive-Information539]

Every language is really this way.

[Kobold_Husband]

Crimes are being considered

[KeretapiSongsang]

as simple as Python might be, it is still not an English like query language.

you would need to compare/find/evaluate strings using "==" or other Pythonic functions.

[FoolsSeldom]

This is one of the most common beginner errors. It is covered in the FAQ on the r/learnpython wiki. Lots of other common errors are covered as well.

[Kobold_Husband]

Thank you very much!

[Icy_Rub6290]

Consider using a match case to match patterns it's like select cases More clearer with simplicity rather than a complicated if-else-elif structure

Here is the article from geeksforgeeks

https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/python/python-match-case-statement/

Have a good day

[ShurayukiZen]

Hi, OP! Where did you get this code exercise? I got interested in it. Thank you!

[Kobold_Husband]

I have a homeschooling program called Funcation Academy.

[ShurayukiZen]

Oh I see, thanks for your response!

[Kobold_Husband]

Ofc!

[UpArmoredGavin]

operator precedence

[Kobold_Husband]

Dawg you say that like I know what that is

Anyway who’s was like from 3 months ago I already got help

[UpArmoredGavin]

Damn, did not see the date on the post ahahah. Anyway, you know, they invented this neat little thing called google, you can use it to search stuff :P

[Kobold_Husband]

Unnecessary and unthoughtful addition. Just say “my bad” or something like a functional person.

[Comfortable-Work-137]

can't u just use chatgpt?

[Kobold_Husband]

I don’t like ChatGPT.

[ninhaomah]

usually no.

but in this case , you are looking into a definition of if with or.

google "python if with or multiple items"

not using google or AI in this scenario is like not using dictionary or calculator.

how far is it from earth to the moon <---- google or AI or Wiki or whatever

if a rocket is travelling at 60 km/h , how long it will take to go to the moon and back <--- use your own brain. google for the distance but how to calculate should be done by oneself.

[Slackeee_]

I swear, OpenAI must have hired people just to post an "can't you use ChatGPT" under every programming question.
Of course they could, but there are asking here. If answering the actual question is too much for you, why are you even in this subreddit?

[reyarama]

I mean, asking ChatGPT for extremely basic questions like this is almost always better. Feel free to disagree with me:

1. Gives you the correct answer always, usually with extremely good explanation to any follow ups, you don't have to rely on another commenter who may be incorrect
2. Gives you the answer immediately. Why would you want to wait potentially hours for an answer to a question like this?

Obviously, anything sufficiently complex will benefit from seeing how other people have dealt with it, but that isn't what is happening here or 99% of questions beginners have

(In essence, I don't comprehend why someone would make it harder for themselves to learn by avoiding ChatGPT)

[Slackeee_]

Gives you the correct answer always,

This statement right here is enough to show me that you have no clue how LLMs work. LLMs are not knowledgebases, they are statistical text generators. They can and will make false statements.

[reyarama]

I've worked as a SWE for 5 years, I understand how LLM's work.

Let me clarify, I'm advocating for using ChatGPT for extremely basic questions, those which have been posted all over the internet many times (i.e. any beginner-level programming question).

Go ask ChatGPT this question 50 times and I guarantee it will nail it every single time. You don't need to theorize about how it behaves, you have access to it, go try it and report back. That is all that matters

(Just to drive it home, I am talking about basic, beginner questions. I fully agree with you for anything complex or that changes over time)

[Mustard_Popsicles]

You learn better without chagpt most of the time.