Creating if/else statements dependent on user input

Question

I'm trying to create a simple script that will will ask a question to which the user will input an answer (Or a prompt with selectable answers could appear?), and the program would output a response based on the input.

For example, if I were to say

prompt1=input('Can I make this stupid thing work?')

I would have something along the lines of

if prompt1='yes': 
    print('Hooray, I can!')

else prompt1='No':
    print('Well I did anyway!')

elif prompt1=#an answer that wouldn't be yes or no
    #repeat prompt1

I'm probably going about this the wrong way. Please be as descriptive as possible as this is a learning exercise for me. Thanks in advance!

Use == to compare equality, and use the else statement.

Christian Tapia
– Christian Tapia

2014-11-02 03:14:06 +00:00
Commented Nov 2, 2014 at 3:14 — Christian Tapia
– Christian Tapia, Commented Nov 2, 2014 at 3:14

Mark Tolonen · Accepted Answer · 2014-11-02 03:33:06Z

2

You are pretty close. Read a good tutorial :)

#!python3
while True:
    prompt1=input('Can I make this stupid thing work?').lower()

    if prompt1 == 'yes':
       print('Hooray, I can!')
    elif prompt1 == 'no':
       print('Well I did anyway!')
    else:
       print('Huh?') #an answer that wouldn't be yes or no

while True will loop the program forever.
Use == to test for equality.
Use .lower() to make it easier to test for answers regardless of case.
if/elif/elif/.../else is the correct sequence for testing.

Here's a Python 2 version:

#!python2
while True:
    prompt1=raw_input('Can I make this stupid thing work?').lower()

    if prompt1 == 'yes':
       print 'Hooray, I can!'
    elif prompt1 == 'no':
       print 'Well I did anyway!'
    else:
       print 'Huh?' #an answer that wouldn't be yes or no

raw_input is used instead of input. input in Python 2 will tries to interpret the input as Python code.
print is a statement instead of a function. Don't use () with it.

edited Nov 2, 2014 at 3:33

answered Nov 2, 2014 at 3:14

Mark Tolonen

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4 Comments

Shawn R. Over a year ago

I copy/pasted this into my PyCharm, and I get this error when I try to input an answer. (yes or no)

Shawn R. Over a year ago

Traceback (most recent call last): File "C:/Users/Shawn/PycharmProjects/helloworld/Test Prograsm.py", line 3, in <module> prompt1=input('Can I make this stupid thing work?').lower() File "<string>", line 1, in <module> NameError: name 'yes' is not defined

Mark Tolonen Over a year ago

You must be using Python 2.x instead. print() is a function in Python 3 so I assumed you are using Python 3. use raw_input in Python 2. Update your question tags to indicate your Python version.

Shawn R. Over a year ago

Oh you're right! Completely my fault. Thank you for the learning experience. :)

Jeffrey J · Accepted Answer · 2014-11-02 03:55:41Z

1

Another example, this time as a function.

def prompt1():
    answer = raw_input("Can I make this stupid thing work?").lower()
    if answer == 'yes' or answer == 'y':
        print "Hooray, I can!"
    elif answer == 'no' or answer == 'n':
        print "Well I did anyway!"
    else:
        print "You didn't pick yes or no, try again."
        prompt1()

prompt1()

answered Nov 2, 2014 at 3:55

Jeffrey J

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