In Defense of Match-case Statements in Python
I recently came across Khuyen Tran's post on π¦ππππ‘-πππ¬π in Python. In a gist, starting Python 3.10, you can use π¦ππππ‘-πππ¬π statements to mimic the behavior of π’π-ππ₯π¬π.
Many responses on that post suggested that π’π-ππ₯π¬π offers higher elegance and readability. Here's an example in defense of π¦ππππ‘-πππ¬π.
While if-else is traditionally accepted, it also comes with many downsides. For instance, many-a-times, one has to write complex chains of nested if-else statements. This includes multiple calls to π₯ππ§(), π’π¬π’π§π¬πππ§ππ() methods, etc.
Furthermore, with π’π-ππ₯π¬π, one has to explicitly destructure the data to extract values. This makes your code inelegant and messy.
Match-case, on the other hand, offers Structural Pattern Matching which makes this simple and concise. In the example above, match-case automatically handles type-matching, length check, and variable unpacking.
Share this post on LinkedIn: Post Link.
Read more here: Python Docs.
I like to explore, experiment and write about data science concepts and tools. You can read my articles on Medium. Also, you can connect with me on LinkedIn.