Python : What is the purpose of a colon in an if statement?

Question

I have this piece of python code below.

def m(list):
    v = list[0]
    for e in list:
        if v < e:
            v = e
        return v

values = [[3, 4,         


        

Answer 1

In [8]: v = 1
In [9]: e = 2
In [10]: if v < e: v = e
In [11]: v
Out[11]: 2
In [12]: e
Out[12]: 2

is same as:

In [13]: v = 1
In [14]: e = 2
In [15]: if v < e:  # if True execute next statement 
   ....:     v = e
   ....:     
In [16]: v
Out[16]: 2
In [17]: e
Out[17]: 2