If statements with OR in then problems

[PythonNotSoGuru]

Hey everyone i am a newbie to python so could someone help me figure out why this code keeps returning "how are you" no matter what i input for x. Im trying to minimalize the amount of elif statements in the program by combining them with the OR inbetween.

print 'hello'
x = raw_input ('')




if x=='hi' or 'hey' or 'hello' or 'whats up' or 'wats up' or 'watsup' or 'sup':
print 'how are you'

elif x=='who are you' or 'what are you' or 'whats your name' or 'wats your name':
print 'my name is compy'
else:
print 'i dont understand your gibberish'

THANX EVERYONE
ps the lines after the if elif and else statements are all indented in my actual code i just couldnt get them to indent on this posting.

[elcron]

Hey everyone i am a newbie to python so could someone help me figure out why this code keeps returning "how are you" no matter what i input for x. Im trying to minimalize the amount of elif statements in the program by combining them with the OR inbetween.

print 'hello'
x = raw_input ('')




if x=='hi' or 'hey' or 'hello' or 'whats up' or 'wats up' or 'watsup' or 'sup':
print 'how are you'

elif x=='who are you' or 'what are you' or 'whats your name' or 'wats your name':
print 'my name is compy'
else:
print 'i dont understand your gibberish'

THANX EVERYONE
ps the lines after the if elif and else statements are all indented in my actual code i just couldnt get them to indent on this posting.

In python the "or" operator separates statements in python these two statements would be equivalent:

if x=='hi' or 'hey' or 'hello' or 'whats up' or 'wats up' or 'watsup' or 'sup':
# and
if (x=='hi') or ('hey') or ('hello') or ('whats up') or ('wats up') or ('watsup') or ('sup'):
 

and any non-empty string evaluates as True. I would use the "in" keyword to fix it. Though you may want to replace the lists with variables to increase readability.

print 'hello'
x = raw_input ('')
 
if x in ['hi', 'hey', 'hello', 'whats up', 'wats up', 'watsup', 'sup']:
    print 'how are you'
 
elif x in ['who are you', 'what are you', 'whats your name', 'wats your name']:
    print 'my name is compy'
 
else:
    print 'i dont understand your gibberish'
 

[bartonc]

My friend, elcron, has a great suggestion. I prefer to use lists and the in operator for readability and maintainability, but to show your error, I'll post this correction:

if x == 'hi' or x == 'hey':

Please note the use of [code] tags, here. Instructions are on the right hand side of the page while you are posting.

[PythonNotSoGuru]

Ok thank you everybody for the help! My new code works great now. Thanks alot.

PS Sorry for the lack of my [code] thing will comply next time.

[bartonc]

Ok thank you everybody for the help! My new code works great now. Thanks alot.

You are quite welcome.

PS Sorry for the lack of my [code] thing will comply next time.

That's no problem. I don't start getting cranky about this until about the third offense (Hence, the "please").