title: Learning functional programming - having trouble conceptualizing "no if statements"
body: <p>I was discussing programming with a friend, who is an advocate for functional programming. He mentioned that you don't need to use if statements, but I can't seem to conceptualize how you would implement</p>
  
  <pre><code>if (something):
      do this;
  
  else:
      do something_else;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>In a functional paradigm?</p>
  
  <p>Edit: my friend specifically mentioned that there are cases where you wouldn't need to use an if expression, even though you <em>can</em>. For example:</p>
  
  <pre><code>if x is odd:
      x + 1
  else:
      x / 2
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Is there a way to implement the above without using any if statements or conditionals?</p>