Python if statement efficiency

I would say the single test is as fast as the separate tests. Python also makes use of so called short-circuit evaluation.

That means for (a and b and c), that b or c would not be tested anymore if a is false.

Similar, if you have an OR expression (a or b) and a is true, b is never evaluated.

So to sum up, the clauses don't fail faster with separation.

if statements will skip everything in an else bracket if it evaluates to true. It should be noted that worrying about this sort of problem, unless it's done millions of times per program execution, is called "premature optimization" and should be avoided. If your code is clearer with three if (a and b and c) statements, they should be left in.

Code:

import dis

def foo():
  if ( a and b and c):
    pass
  else:
    pass

def bar():
  if a:
    if b:
      if c:
        pass

print 'foo():'
dis.dis(foo)
print 'bar():'
dis.dis(bar)

Output:

foo():
  4           0 LOAD_GLOBAL              0 (a)
              3 JUMP_IF_FALSE           18 (to 24)
              6 POP_TOP             
              7 LOAD_GLOBAL              1 (b)
             10 JUMP_IF_FALSE           11 (to 24)
             13 POP_TOP             
             14 LOAD_GLOBAL              2 (c)
             17 JUMP_IF_FALSE            4 (to 24)
             20 POP_TOP             

  5          21 JUMP_FORWARD             1 (to 25)
        >>   24 POP_TOP             

  7     >>   25 LOAD_CONST               0 (None)
             28 RETURN_VALUE        
bar():
 10           0 LOAD_GLOBAL              0 (a)
              3 JUMP_IF_FALSE           26 (to 32)
              6 POP_TOP             

 11           7 LOAD_GLOBAL              1 (b)
             10 JUMP_IF_FALSE           15 (to 28)
             13 POP_TOP             

 12          14 LOAD_GLOBAL              2 (c)
             17 JUMP_IF_FALSE            4 (to 24)
             20 POP_TOP             

 13          21 JUMP_ABSOLUTE           29
        >>   24 POP_TOP             
             25 JUMP_ABSOLUTE           33
        >>   28 POP_TOP             
        >>   29 JUMP_FORWARD             1 (to 33)
        >>   32 POP_TOP             
        >>   33 LOAD_CONST               0 (None)
             36 RETURN_VALUE        

So, although the setup is the same, the cleanup for the combined expression is faster since it leaves only a single value on the stack.