<> = The Problem = Python is sorely missing an if statement that: * computes and takes the value of A if and only if the predicate is true * computes and takes the value of B if and only if the predicate is false In C and its derivitives, {{{ predicate ? A : B }}} This is extremely useful in programming and helps avoid copy and paste assignments. This is an example of poor code, because the assignment logic "x=" is copied and pasted, violating the software maintainbility and readability principle of OnceAndOnlyOnce: {{{ if test: x=sin(cos(x)) else: x=cos(sin(x)) }}} = Accepted Solution = This is now part of Python 2.5: {{{ A if predicate else B }}} which would convert the above snippet to: {{{ x = sin(cos(x)) if test else cos(sin(x)) }}} = Discussion = Please see http://python.org/peps/pep-0308.html and google for discussions about the ternary operator (if you haven't yet).