Can you really code without if-else?

I Tried Coding Without If-Else in Python — Here’s What Happened

I challenged myself to write Python without a single if or else. The result? Cleaner logic, unexpected patterns, and a whole new way of thinking.

Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash

You don’t realize how much you rely on if-else statements — until you decide to go a week without them.

As a Python developer, if-else is like breathing. It’s how we make decisions, build logic, and basically keep the lights on in our code. But a thought hit me one lazy Sunday afternoon: what if I just… stopped using if-else entirely?

Not because it’s bad — far from it. But sometimes, we get so comfortable with a tool that we stop thinking critically about it. Could I write readable, maintainable, and functional code without the trusty if-else? I had to find out.

So I set a challenge for myself: one week, zero if-else. Here’s what I learned.

Why Even Try This?

Let’s get this out of the way: I’m not advocating for a world without if-else. This was more of a mental workout. It forced me to dig deeper into Python’s expressive power — embracing idioms I hadn’t used much before…