Branching is the process of following different paths through

code depending on the current values of data elements. In

Python, this is accomplished with if statements. An if

statement tests whether a particular logical condition is irue

or False, then branches to one code block or another based on

that condition.

A logical test is often carried out with a relational $($or

comparison$)$ operator that tests a relationship between two

objects, such as whether they are equal or if one of them is

greater than the other. Unlike arithmetic operators $($such as

addition and subtraction$),$ which return numbers, relational

operators return Boolean $($bool$)$ objects, either True or False.

For example, the expression aba will evaluate $to$ True $ifais$

less than $b$ and false $ifitis$ not. These sorts $of$ relational

comparisons are used $inif$ statements $to$ branch $to$ different

blocks $of$ code depending $on$ the values $of$ the data.