10 Surprising Python Tricks That Feel Like Cheating (But Aren’t)

Once I learned these, I felt like I unlocked developer cheat codes.

10 Surprising Python Tricks That Feel Like Cheating (But Aren’t)

Let’s face it — Python spoils us.

Its elegant syntax and built-in features often feel too good to be true, and just when you think you’ve seen it all, you stumble upon another Python trick that makes you question everything you know about “writing code the hard way.”

In this post, I’ll show you five surprising Python tricks that feel like cheating but are 100% legit. Whether you’re new to the language or a seasoned Pythonista, at least one of these might make you say, “Wait, you can do THAT in Python?”

1. Swapping Variables Without a Temp Variable

Most languages force you to use a temporary variable to swap two values. Not Python.

a, b = 5, 10 
a, b = b, a

Now a is 10 and b is 5. Clean, elegant, and almost suspiciously easy.

Why it feels like cheating: You’re doing in one line what usually takes three.

But it’s legit because: This is Python’s tuple unpacking in action. Under the hood, a, b = b, a creates a temporary tuple and then unpacks it back into the variables.

2. Using else With Loops

Did you know Python lets you add an else block to for and while loops? It’s not about “if-else”—it’s more subtle.

for item in [1, 2, 3]: 
    if item == 4: 
        print("Found 4!") 
        break 
else: 
    print("4 not found.")

Why it feels like cheating: An else after a for loop? That’s illegal in most people’s mental model.

But it’s legit because: In Python, the else clause runs only if the loop wasn’t terminated by a break. It’s like a built-in “not found” handler.

3. The Underscore _ Has Superpowers

Python gives _ special meanings in different contexts:

# Ignoring values during unpacking 
x, _, y = (1, 2, 3) 
 
# In the REPL 
>>> 10 + 5 
15 
>>> _ * 2 
30

Why it feels like cheating: You’re using a throwaway character for actual logic — and it works!

But it’s legit because: Python treats _ as a convention for unused variables and, in the REPL, stores the last result in _. Two different tricks, same cool symbol.

4. List Comprehensions With if-else Inside

You probably know list comprehensions:

squares = [x * x for x in range(5)]

But check this out:

result = ["even" if x % 2 == 0 else "odd" for x in range(5)]

Output: ['even', 'odd', 'even', 'odd', 'even']

Why it feels like cheating: You’re cramming conditional logic inside a list comprehension in a way that looks like pseudo-code.

But it’s legit because: Python’s syntax is flexible enough to allow conditional expressions inside comprehensions — this is perfectly Pythonic.

5. Merging Dictionaries in One Line (Python 3.9+)

Need to merge two dictionaries? You used to write something like this:

z = {**x, **y}

Now you can do:

z = x | y

Why it feels like cheating: This syntax looks more like set union than dict merging.

But it’s legit because: Since Python 3.9, the | operator is officially supported for dictionary merging. It’s not magic—just modern Python.

6. Using any() and all() for Clean Logic

Need to check if any or all conditions in a list are True? Python makes it a one-liner.

nums = [1, 2, 3, 4] 
 
# Check if any number is even 
has_even = any(n % 2 == 0 for n in nums) 
 
# Check if all numbers are positive 
all_positive = all(n > 0 for n in nums)

Why it feels like cheating: You’re skipping multiple loops or conditional blocks.

But it’s legit because: any() and all() are built-in functions that short-circuit and evaluate generator expressions efficiently.

7. Function Argument Unpacking With * and **

You can unpack lists or dictionaries directly into function arguments.

def greet(name, age): 
    print(f"Hi, I’m {name} and I’m {age} years old.") 
 
data = ("Aashish", 30) 
greet(*data) 
 
info = {"name": "John", "age": 25} 
greet(**info)

Why it feels like cheating: You’re passing complex data structures directly into functions — without even touching them.

But it’s legit because: * unpacks sequences and ** unpacks dictionaries into named arguments.

8. Chaining Comparisons Like Natural Language

Instead of writing:

if 3 < x and x < 10:

You can write:

if 3 < x < 10:

Why it feels like cheating: This looks too much like English to be valid syntax.

But it’s legit because: Python supports chaining comparison operators, evaluating them from left to right, just like how we think.

9. The get() Method on Dictionaries

Ever tried to access a key that might not exist?

user = {"name": "Aashish"} 
 
# This won't raise a KeyError 
email = user.get("email", "Not Provided")

Why it feels like cheating: You’re skipping a whole if key in dict: block.

But it’s legit because: The dict.get() method is built for this. It lets you specify a fallback value, making your code cleaner and safer.

10. Using zip() to Pair Lists

Want to loop over two lists at the same time?

names = ["Aashish", "John", "Marie"] 
scores = [85, 90, 95] 
 
for name, score in zip(names, scores): 
    print(f"{name} scored {score}")

Why it feels like cheating: You’re elegantly avoiding index tracking and range juggling.

But it’s legit because: zip() pairs elements from multiple iterables, stopping at the shortest one. It’s a Pythonic way to parallel-iterate.

Bonus Pro Tip

You can even unzip using the unpacking operator:

pairs = [("a", 1), ("b", 2), ("c", 3)] 
letters, numbers = zip(*pairs)

Wrapping Up

These tricks don’t just save lines of code — they boost clarity, performance, and your reputation as someone who really knows Python.

Python was designed with developer happiness in mind, and these elegant features are proof of that philosophy in action.

Did I miss your favorite Python cheat-code?

Drop your most “is-this-allowed?” Python trick in the comments. Let’s share the Python love.