Loops can execute a block of code number of times until a certain condition is met. Their usage is fairly common in programming. Unlike other programming language that have For Loop, while loop, dowhile, etc.
For loop is used to iterate over elements of a sequence. It is often used when you have a piece of code which you want to repeat "n" number of time.
While Loop is used to repeat a block of code. Instead of running the code block once, It executes the code block multiple times until a certain condition is met.
In this tutorial, we will learn
While loop does the exactly same thing what "if statement" does, but instead of running the code block once, they jump back to the point where it began the code and repeats the whole process again.
Syntax
while expression Statement
Example:
#
#Example file for working with loops
#
def main():
x=0
#define a while loop
while(x <4):
print(x)
x = x+1
if __name__ == "__main__":
main()
In Python, "for loops" are called iterators.
Just like while loop, "For Loop" is also used to repeat the program.
But unlike while loop which depends on condition true or false. "For Loop" depends on the elements it has to iterate.
Example:
#
#Example file for working with loops
#
def main():
x=0
#define a while loop
# while(x <4):
# print x
# x = x+1
#Define a for loop
for x in range(2,7):
print(x)
if __name__ == "__main__":
main()
For Loop iterates with number declared in the range.
For example,
For Loop for x in range (2,7)
When this code is executed, it will print the number between 2 and 7 (2,3,4,5,6). In this code, number 7 is not considered inside the range.
For Loops can also be used for a set of other things and not just number. We will see thin in next section.
In this step, we will see how "for loops" can also be used for other things besides numbers.
Example:
def main(): #use a for loop over a collection Months = ["Jan","Feb","Mar","April","May","June"] for m in Months: print(m) if __name__ == "__main__": main()
Code Line 3: We store the months ("Jan, Feb , Mar,April,May,June") in variable Months
Code Line 4: We iterate the for loop over each value in Months. The current value of Months in stored in variable m
Code Line 5: Print the month
Breakpoint is a unique function in For Loop that allows you to break or terminate the execution of the for loop
Example:
def main(): #use a for loop over a collection #Months = ["Jan","Feb","Mar","April","May","June"] #for m in Months: #print m # use the break and continue statements for x in range (10,20): if (x == 15): break #if (x % 2 == 0) : continue print(x) if __name__ == "__main__": main()In this example, we declared the numbers from 10-20, but we want that our for loop to terminate at number 15 and stop executing further. For that, we declare break function by defining (x==15): break, so as soon as the code calls the number 15 it terminates the program Code Line 10 declare variable x between range (10, 20)
Continue function, as the name indicates, will terminate the current iteration of the for loop BUT will continue execution of the remaining iterations.
Example
def main(): #use a for loop over a collection #Months = ["Jan","Feb","Mar","April","May","June"] #for m in Months: #print m # use the break and continue statements for x in range (10,20): #if (x == 15): break if (x % 5 == 0) : continue print(x) if __name__ == "__main__": main()
Continue statement can be used in for loop when you want to fetch a specific value from the list.
In our example, we have declared value 10-20, but between these numbers we only want those number that are NOT divisible by 5 or in other words which don't give zero when divided by 5.
So, in our range (10,11, 12….19,20) only 3 numbers falls (10,15,20) that are divisible by 5 and rest are not.
So except number 10,15 & 20 the "for loop" will not continue and print out those number as output.
Enumerate function in "for loop" does two things
Example:
Enumerate function is used for the numbering or indexing the members in the list.
Suppose, we want to do numbering for our month ( Jan, Feb, Marc, ….June), so we declare the variable i that enumerate the numbers while m will print the number of month in list.
def main(): #use a for loop over a collection Months = ["Jan","Feb","Mar","April","May","June"] for i, m in enumerate (Months): print(i,m) # use the break and continue statements #for x in range (10,20): #if (x == 15): break #if (x % 5 == 0) : continue #print x if __name__ == "__main__": main()
When code is executed the output of the enumerate function returns the months name with an index number like (0-Jan), (1- Feb), (2- March), etc.
Let see another example for For Loop to repeat the same statement over and again.
|
Python loop |
Working Code for all exercises |
|
Code for while loop |
def main():
x=0
while (x<4):
print x
x= x+1
if __name__== "__main__":
main()
|
|
For Loop Simple Example |
def main():
x=0
for x in range (2,7):
print x
if __name__== "__main__":
main()
|
|
Use of for loop in string |
def main():
Months = ["Jan","Feb","Mar","April","May","June"]
for m in (Months):
print m
if __name__== "__main__":
main()
|
|
Use break-statement in for loop |
def main():
for x in range (10,20):
if (x == 15): break
print x
if __name__== "__main__":
main()
|
|
Use of Continue statement in for loop |
def main():
for x in range (10,20):
if (x % 5 == 0): continue
print x
if __name__== "__main__":
main()
|
|
Code for "enumerate function" with "for loop" |
def main():
Months = ["Jan","Feb","Mar","April","May","June"]
for i, m in enumerate (Months):
print i,m
if __name__== "__main__":
main()
|
You can use for loop for even repeating the same statement over and again. Here in the example we have printed out word "guru99" three times.
Example: To repeat same statement number of times, we have declared the number in variable i (i in 123). So when you run the code as shown below, it prints the statement (guru99) that many times the number declared for our the variable in ( i in 123).
for i in '123': print "guru99",i,
Like other programming languages, Python also uses a loop but instead of using a range of different loops it is restricted to only two loops "While loop" and "for loop".
Python 2 Example
Above codes are Python 3 examples, If you want to run in Python 2 please consider following code.
# How to use "While Loop"
#Example file for working with loops
#
def main():
x=0
#define a while loop
while(x <4):
print x
x = x+1
if __name__ == "__main__":
main()
#How to use "For Loop"
#Example file for working with loops
#
def main():
x=0
#define a while loop
# while(x <4):
# print x
# x = x+1
#Define a for loop
for x in range(2,7):
print x
if __name__ == "__main__":
main()
#How to use For Loop for String
def main():
#use a for loop over a collection
Months = ["Jan","Feb","Mar","April","May","June"]
for m in Months:
print m
if __name__ == "__main__":
main()
#How to use break statements in For Loop
def main():
#use a for loop over a collection
#Months = ["Jan","Feb","Mar","April","May","June"]
#for m in Months:
#print m
# use the break and continue statements
for x in range (10,20):
if (x == 15): break
#if (x % 2 == 0) : continue
print x
if __name__ == "__main__":
main()
#How to use "continue statement" in For Loop
def main():
#use a for loop over a collection
#Months = ["Jan","Feb","Mar","April","May","June"]
#for m in Months:
#print m
# use the break and continue statements
for x in range (10,20):
#if (x == 15): break
if (x % 5 == 0) : continue
print x
if __name__ == "__main__":
main()
#How to use "enumerate" function for "For Loop"
def main():
#use a for loop over a collection
Months = ["Jan","Feb","Mar","April","May","June"]
for i, m in enumerate (Months):
print i,m
# use the break and continue statements
#for x in range (10,20):
#if (x == 15): break
#if (x % 5 == 0) : continue
#print x
if __name__ == "__main__":
main()