Question

How to write the expression shorter:

return '%.0f' % float_var if float_var else float_var

or

if float_var:
    return formatted_string
else:
    return None

Thanks!

Answer 1

The expression <value> if <condition> else <other_value> is pretty idiomatic already — certainly more so than the other example, and is probably preferred whenever <value> is simple. This is Python’s ternary operator, so if you were looking for something like <condition> ? <value> : <other_value>, that doesn’t exist.

If computing <value> or <other_value> takes a few steps, use the longer if: ... else: ... alternative.