Question

Write an if statement that assigns 0.2 to commissionRate if sales is greater than or equal to 10000.

Short answer

Question: Write an if statement to assign a commission rate of 0.2 if the sales amount is greater than or equal to 10000. Answer: ```python sales = 0 commissionRate = 0.0 if sales >= 10000: commissionRate = 0.2 ```

Step-by-step solution

Initialize Variables

First, we need to initialize our variables, sales and commissionRate. ```python sales = 0 commissionRate = 0.0 ```

Write the If Statement

Now, create an if statement within which the commissionRate is assigned a value of 0.2 if sales is greater than or equal to 10000. ```python if sales >= 10000: commissionRate = 0.2 ```

Final Code

Finally, combine steps 1 and 2 to get the complete code. ```python sales = 0 commissionRate = 0.0 if sales >= 10000: commissionRate = 0.2 ```

Key concepts

If Statement

The 'if statement' in Python allows you to execute code based on whether a condition is true or false. This is fundamental for decision-making in programming. If the condition is true, the block of code within the 'if statement' runs. If it’s false, the code is skipped. In our example, the condition checks if the sales are greater than or equal to 10,000.

To implement this, the syntax is structured as follows:

• Place the keyword if.
• Write the condition following the 'if' keyword.
• End with a colon ':' to denote the start of the code block that will execute if true.

The correct condition and syntax enable code control and logic branching, which is crucial for making decisions in any program.

Variable Initialization

Before using a variable in Python, you must initialize it. This means you give the variable an initial value. In our exercise, sales and commissionRate are initialized before they're used in the conditional logic.

The initialization step:

• Assigns the variable sales an initial value of 0. This sets a default that can later be changed based on program requirements.
• Gives commissionRate an initial value of 0.0, which is a float type to handle decimal points representing percentages.

Initializing variables prevents errors in later parts of your code where these variables are referenced and manipulated.

Conditional Logic

The core of programming decision-making rests on 'conditional logic'. This involves evaluating expressions to determine whether they're true or false. Python uses comparisons such as greater than (>), less than (<), greater than or equal to (>=), and others.

In this exercise:

• The expression sales >= 10000 is evaluated.
• If sales is at least 10,000, the code block under the if statement executes.

The power of conditional logic lies in its ability to direct program flow based on dynamic conditions and user input.

Assignment Operator

The assignment operator is used to set a value to a variable. In Python, this is done with the '=' sign. It's crucial to distinguish the assignment from comparison, which uses '==' to compare values.

In our example, the assignment operation is:

• The commissionRate = 0.2 line within the 'if statement'. Here, 0.2 is assigned to commissionRate if the condition is met.

Assigning values correctly is essential for updating variables based on conditions, storing results, and preparing data for further operations in the script.