When If statements in code become chaos

byFleeky

7.8K followers

Updated 2 months ago

When 'If Statements' Sip More Coffee Than the Coder!

Once upon a time in the land of Codeville, there was a programmer named Sam. Sam was notorious for his love of coffee, late nights, and writing code with as few "if statements" as possible. Sam’s philosophy was simple: "Why decide things when I can just let the computer figure it out?" He called it "Free-Range Coding."

One day, Sam was given a simple task: write a program that determines if a person is old enough to enter a secret coding club. The requirements were clear:

1. If someone is 18 or older, they can enter the club.
2. If they’re between 16 and 17, they’re allowed to hang around outside and "think about code" until they’re ready.
3. If they’re under 16, they have to wait and come back later.

Sam, sipping his 3rd espresso, thought, "Pshh, piece of cake!" But Sam, being Sam, decided to optimize it. Instead of writing a straightforward if statement, he wrote something like this:

python:
age = 20 # This could be anyone's age, right?
print("Welcome to the club!" * (age >= 18))
print("Hang out outside and think about code." * (16 <= age < 18))
print("Come back later." * (age < 16))

Sam leaned back, feeling triumphant. "Simple, efficient, just a few lines!"he thought. But then...he ran the program. When he entered age = 20, the output was something like:

Welcome to the club!
Hang out outside and think about code.
Come back later.

All three messages printed out. Sam stared at his screen, baffled. "How could this happen?"

He changed the age to 15. Now the output was:

Come back later.Come back later.Come back later.

He scratched his head, looking at the infinite echoes of Come back laterthat were taking over his console like a bug apocalypse.

Finally, Sam sighed, defeated. He wrote a traditional if statement:

python:

if age >= 18:
print("Welcome to the club!")
elif 16 <= age < 18:
print("Hang out outside and think about code.")
else:
print("Come back later.")

It worked perfectly.

Moral of the story: Sometimes, the humble if statement knows best. And also, maybe it’s time for Sam to cut down on caffeine.

Sam, the caffeine-fueled programmer facing the chaos of his runaway code! I hope you love the energy! ☕️☕️☕️

I hope you enjoyed Sam’s about to code his way to legend status! 🦾🚀

Cheers to mastering the power of if statements and enough coffee to launch a rocket!

🦾🚀