Match-case

Introduced in Python 3.10, match-case is a powerful alternative to long if/elif/else chains. It evaluates an expression and compares it against multiple case patterns, checking them in order from top to bottom.

Basic Pattern Matching​

Use match-case for menu-driven logic where a variable can have several distinct literal values. It is much more readable than if/elif when branching based on a single expression.

seat_type = "ac"

match seat_type:
    case "sleeper":
        print("Sleeper: No AC, but has beds.")
    case "ac":
        print("AC: Climate controlled.")
    case "general":
        print("General: Budget seating.")
    case _:
        print("Unknown seat type.")

AC: Climate controlled.

The Wildcard Pattern​

The underscore _ is a special pattern that matches anything. It acts as the mandatory "wildcard" or fallback if nothing else matches, preventing our logic from falling through silently.