Loops and Iteration

Chapter 5

Python for Informatics: Exploring Information

www.pythonlearn.com

Unless otherwise noted, the content of this course material is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/.
Copyright 2010- Charles Severance

n = 5

No

Yes

Repeated Steps

Program:



n = 5

while n > 0 :

print n

n = n 1

print 'Blastoff!'

print n

Output:



5

print n

4

3

n = n -1

2

1

Blastoff!

0

print 'Blastoff'

Loops (repeated steps) have iteration variables that
change each time through a loop. Often these
iteration variables go through a sequence of numbers.

n > 0 ?

n = 5

No

Yes

n > 0 ?

print 'Lather'

print 'Rinse'

An Infinite Loop

n = 5

while n > 0 :

print 'Lather

print 'Rinse'

print 'Dry off!'

print 'Dry off!'

What is wrong with this loop?

n = 0

No

Yes

n > 0 ?

print 'Lather'

print 'Rinse'

Another Loop

n = 0

while n > 0 :

print 'Lather

print 'Rinse'

print 'Dry off!'

print 'Dry off!'

What does this loop do?

Breaking Out of a Loop

The break statement ends the current loop and jumps to the
statement immediately following the loop

It is like a loop test that can happen anywhere in the body of the loop

while True:

line = raw_input('> ')

if line == 'done' :

break

print line

print 'Done!'

> hello there

hello there

> finished

finished

> done

Done!

Breaking Out of a Loop

The break statement ends the current loop and jumps to the
statement immediately following the loop

It is like a loop test that can happen anywhere in the body of the loop

while True:

line = raw_input('> ')

if line == 'done' :

break

print line

print 'Done!'

> hello there

hello there

> finished

Finished

> done

Done!

while True:

line = raw_input('> ')

if line == 'done' :

break

print line

print 'Done!'

No

True ?

Yes

....

break

...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transporter_(Star_Trek)

print 'Done'

Finishing an Iteration with continue

The continue statement ends the current iteration and jumps to the
top of the loop and starts the next iteration

while True:

line = raw_input('> ')

if line[0] == '#' :

continue

if line == 'done'

:
break

print line

print 'Done!'

> hello there

hello there

> # don't print this

> print this!

print this!

> done

Done!

Finishing an Iteration with continue

The continue statement ends the current iteration and jumps to the top
of the loop and starts the next iteration

while True:

line = raw_input('> ')

if line[0] == '#' :

continue

if line == 'done' :

break

print line

print 'Done!'

> hello there

hello there

> # don't print this

> print this!

print this!

> done

Done!

No

while True:

line = raw_input('> )

if line[0] == '#' :

continue

if line == 'done' :

break

print line

print 'Done!'

True ?

Yes

....

continue

...

print 'Done'

Indefinite Loops

While loops are called "indefinite loops" because they keep going until
a logical condition becomes False

The loops we have seen so far are pretty easy to examine to see if
they will terminate or if they will be "infinite loops"

Sometimes it is a little harder to be sure if a loop will terminate

Definite Loops

Quite often we have a list of items of the lines in a file - effectively a
finite set of things

We can write a loop to run the loop once for each of the items in a
set using the Python for construct

These loops are called "definite loops" because they execute an exact
number of times

We say that "definite loops iterate through the members of a set"

A Simple Definite Loop

for i in [5, 4, 3, 2, 1] :

print i

print 'Blastoff!'

5

4

3

2

1

Blastoff!

A Definite Loop with Strings

friends = ['Joseph', 'Glenn', 'Sally']

for friend in friends :

print 'Happy New Year:', friend

print 'Done!'

Happy New Year: Joseph

Happy New Year: Glenn

Happy New Year: Sally

Done!

A Simple Definite Loop

Yes

No

Done?
Move i ahead

print i

print 'Blast off!'

for i in [5, 4, 3, 2, 1] :

print i

print 'Blastoff!'

5

4

3

2

1

Blastoff!

Definite loops (for loops) have explicit iteration

variables that change each time through a loop. These
iteration variables move through the sequence or set.

Looking at In...

The iteration variable

iterates though the

sequence (ordered set)

The block (body) of code is

executed once for each
value in the sequence

The iteration variable

moves through all of the

values in the sequence

Iteration variable

Five-element sequence

for i in [5, 4, 3, 2, 1] :

print i

Yes

No

Done?
Move i ahead

print i

The iteration variable

iterates
though the sequence (ordered set)

The block (body) of code is

executed once for each value in

the sequence

The iteration variable moves

for i in [5, 4, 3, 2, 1]

: print i

through all of the values in the

sequence

i = 5

Yes

No

print i

Done?
Move i ahead

print i

i = 4

print i

i = 3

print i

i = 2

for i in [5, 4, 3, 2, 1] :

print i

print i

i = 1

print i

Definite Loops

Quite often we have a list of items of the lines in a file - effectively a
finite set of things

We can write a loop to run the loop once for each of the items in a
set using the Python for construct

These loops are called "definite loops" because they execute an exact
number of times

We say that "definite loops iterate through the members of a set"

Loop Idioms
What We Do in Loops
Note: Even though these examples are simple, the
patterns apply to all kinds of loops

Making smart loops

Set some variables to initial
values

The trick is

knowing something
about the whole loop when you
are stuck writing code that only
sees one entry at a time

for thing in data:

Look for something or
do something to each
entry separately, updating
a variable.

Look at the variables.

Looping through a Set

print 'Before'

for thing in [9, 41, 12, 3, 74, 15] :

print thing

print 'After'

$ python basicloop.py

Before

9

41

12

3

74

15

After

What is the Largest Number?

What is the Largest Number?

3

41
12
9

largest_so_far

-1
3
41
74

74
15

Counting in a Loop

$ python countloop.py

Before 0

1 9

2 41

3 12

4 3

5 74

6 15

After 6

To count how many times we execute a loop we introduce a counter
variable that starts at 0 and we add one to it each time through the loop.

zork = 0

print 'Before', zork

for thing in [9, 41, 12, 3, 74, 15] :

zork = zork + 1

print zork, thing

print 'After', zork

Summing in a Loop

zork = 0

print 'Before', zork

for thing in [9, 41, 12, 3, 74, 15] :

zork = zork + thing

print zork, thing

print 'After', zork

$ python countloop.py

Before 0

9 9

50 41

62 12

65 3

139 74

154 15

After 154

To add up a value we encounter in a loop, we introduce a sum variable that

starts at 0 and we add the value to the sum each time through the loop.

Finding the Average in a Loop

count = 0

sum = 0

print 'Before', count, sum

for value in [9, 41, 12, 3, 74, 15] :

count = count + 1

sum = sum + value

print count, sum, value

print 'After', count, sum, sum / count

$ python averageloop.py

Before 0 0

1 9 9

2 50 41

3 62 12

4 65 3

5 139 74

6 154 15

After 6 154 25

An average just combines the counting and sum patterns

and divides when the loop is done.

Filtering in a Loop

print 'Before

for value in [9, 41, 12, 3, 74, 15] :

if value > 20:


print 'Large number',value

print 'After'

$ python search1.py

Before

Large number 41

Large number 74

After

We use an if statement in the loop to catch / filter the

values we are looking for.

Search Using a Boolean Variable

found = False

print 'Before', found

for value in [9, 41, 12, 3, 74, 15] :

if value == 3 :

found = True

print found, value

print 'After', found

$ python search1.py

Before False

False 9

False 41

False 12

True 3

True 74

True 15

After True

If we just want to search and know if a value was found - we use a variable that starts
at False and is set to True as soon as we find what we are looking for.

What is the Smallest Number?

What is the Smallest Number?

9

41
12
3

smallest_so_far

-1

74
15

What is the Smallest Number?

9

41
12
3

largest_so_far

None
9
3

74
15

Finding the smallest value

smallest = None

print 'Before

for value in [9, 41, 12, 3, 74, 15] :

if smallest is None :

smallest = value

elif value < smallest :

smallest = value

print smallest, value

print 'After', smallest

$ python smallest.py

Before

9 9

9 41

9 12

3 3

3 74

3 15

After 3

We still have a variable that is the smallest so far. The first time through the
loop smallest is None so we take the first value to be the smallest.

The "is" and "is not" Operators

smallest = None

print 'Before

for value in [3, 41, 12, 9, 74, 15] :

if smallest is None :

smallest = value

elif value < smallest :

smallest = value

print smallest, value

print 'After', smallest

Python has an "is" operaror that

can be used in logical
expressions

Implies 'is the same as'

Similar to, but stronger than ==

'is not' also is a logical operator

Summary

While loops (indefinite)

Infinite loops

Using break

Using continue

For loops (definite)

Iteration variables

Largest or smallest