elif is some sort of replacement for switch in other languages but with more power
for example in C you write
switch (number){
case 1:
doA()
break;
case 2:
doB()
break;
case N:
doN()
break;
default:
doSomethingElse()
break;
}
in Python you write
if number == 1: doA()
elif number == 2: doB()
elif number == N: doC()
else: doSomethingElse()
As you see elif is more powerful since you can put more complex statements than in a switch, plus avoid nesting if/else statements
