Best way to format conditionnal statement

March 24, 2022

I have the following conditionnal statement :

  if(action == 'actionA'):
     if(collection == 'collectionA'):
       doActionA(collectionA)
     elif(collection == 'collectionB'):
       doActionA(collectionB)
  if(action == 'actionB'):
     if(collection == 'collectionA'):
       doActionB(collectionA)
     elif(collection == 'collectionB'):
       doActionB(collectionB)

This code seems really poor designed, is there a better pythonical way to do it ?

>Solution :

The classic way to "choose" an element depending on its name is to use a dictionary. Dictionaries can hold any kind of objects, including functions.

collections = {'collectionA': collectionA; 'collectionB': collectionB}
doActions = {'actionA': doActionA; 'actionB': doActionB}

# do action, without error checking
doActions[action](collections[collection])

# do action, with default value
doActions.get(action, doDefaultAction)(collections.get(collection, defaultCollection))

# do action, only if values are correct
if action in doActions and collection in collections:
    doActions[action](collections[collection])