Python use the print() function in a ternary conditional operator?

Question

I don't understand why this fails

print('Yes') if True else print('No')
  File "<stdin>", line 1
    print('Yes') if True else print('No')
                                  ^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax

print('Yes') if True == False else print('No')
  File "<stdin>", line 1
    print('Yes') if True == False else print('No')
                                           ^
SyntaxError: invalid syntax

But this does work

print('Yes') if True else True
Yes

@AlexisDrakopoulos 'Cause you're using python 3, where print is a function. — Aran-Fey
– Aran-Fey, Commented Oct 21, 2018 at 10:12

Alex · Accepted Answer · 2018-10-21 10:39:59Z

1

It's because in python 2, when you write:

print('Yes') if True else True

It actually is

print(('Yes') if True else True)

So you can write :

print('Yes') if True else ('No')

Or, a bit more beautifully

print('Yes' if True else 'No')

It means that you can only use ternary operations on the "argument" of print in python2.

answered Oct 21, 2018 at 10:39

Alex

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Comments

Lefty · Accepted Answer · 2018-10-21 10:32:44Z

0

The print function is a special statement in Python 2, so it can't be used in complex expressions line the ternary operator. Your code will work in Python 3.

answered Oct 21, 2018 at 10:32

Lefty

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