Final answer:
To return the longest string out of two input strings, compare their lengths using an if-else statement. If they are the same length, return the second string. Otherwise, return the longer string.
Step-by-step explanation:
To write a program that returns the longest string out of two input strings, you can use an if-else statement to compare the lengths of the two strings. If the first string is longer than the second string, return the first string. If the second string is longer or if the two strings have the same length, return the second string.
Here's the code in Python:
def longest_string(str1, str2):
if len(str1) > len(str2):
return str1
else:
return str2
# Testing the function
string1 = "almond"
string2 = "pistachio"
result = longest_string(string1, string2)
print(result) # Output: pistachio