What is the Walrus operator in python?

The Walrus operator (:=) was introduced in Python 3.8 and is a useful way to assign values to variables within expressions. The Walrus operator is represented by two colons followed by an equals sign (:=).

The Walrus operator is especially useful in conditional expressions, where you need to assign a value to a variable based on a condition. Let's take a look at an example:

# Example without the Walrus operator
number = input("Enter a number: ")
if int(number) > 10:
    print("The number entered is greater than 10")
else:
    print("The number entered is less than or equal to 10")

This is a simple example that prompts the user to enter a number and then checks whether the number is greater than 10 or not. However, we can simplify this example using the Walrus operator, like so:

# Example with the Walrus operator
if (number := input("Enter a number: ")) > 10:
    print("The number entered is greater than 10")
else:
    print("The number entered is less than or equal to 10")

As you can see, in this example, we use the Walrus operator to assign the value of number directly within the conditional expression. This makes the code more concise and readable.

The Walrus operator can also be used in other situations, such as while and for loops. Here's an example:

# Example of while loop with the Walrus operator
while (number := input("Enter a number: ")) != "0":
    print(f"The number entered is {user_input}")

In this example, we use the Walrus operator to assign the value of number within the condition of the while loop. The loop will continue until the user enters "0".

In summary, the Walrus operator is a useful addition to Python 3.8 that simplifies the assignment of values within conditional expressions and loops. It's a convenient way to make code more concise and readable.