Python dummy statement for nothing or nop when indent expected

Question

I recall there was a dummy statement that was the equivalent of do nothing or fill in the blank space after the if, elif, else, and for statements to keep the expected indentation.

The below example will not work

if True:
    #I want to simply pass this branch
    # ... NOP command here
else:
    print "False"

How can I achieve this?

Alternatively, when using `if variable_to_test`, invert the test: `if not variable_to_test: print "False"`. — Martijn Pieters, Mar 09 '16 at 13:31

L3viathan · Accepted Answer · 2016-03-09T13:35:05.497

13

There's pass:

def foo():
    pass

In Python 3 there's also the ellipsis ...*, which wasn't really meant for this, but is also sometimes used:

def foo():
    ...

Semantically, I would expect to see ... when that part isn't written yet, as a stub, and pass when there's never going to be code there.

^{* The ellipsis also exists in Python 2, but can't be used outside the square brackets in something like foobar[...].}

edited Mar 09 '16 at 13:35

answered Mar 09 '16 at 13:29

L3viathan

26,748
2
58
81

is `...` available in python 2? – Radu Ionescu Mar 09 '16 at 13:34
@RaduIonescu See my edit. Technically yes, but not usable in that way. – L3viathan Mar 09 '16 at 13:35
Another options is "docstring"/string. e.g. `"..."` – BrendanSimon Jan 17 '20 at 11:31

PKuhn · Answer 2 · 2016-03-09T13:34:06.160

4

You can use the pass command to achieve this

if True:
    pass
else:
    print "False"

edited Mar 09 '16 at 13:34

answered Mar 09 '16 at 13:29

PKuhn

1,338
1
14
30

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 09 '16 at 13:29

2

You can use the pass statement like this:

if True:
    pass
else:
    print "False"

answered Mar 09 '16 at 13:29

Mark Skelton

3,663
4
27
47

Python dummy statement for nothing or nop when indent expected

3 Answers3