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0 documentation

4. More Control Flow Tools

Besides the while statement just introduced, Python uses the usual flow control statements
known from other languages, with some twists.

4.1. if Statements
Perhaps the most well-known statement type is the if statement. For example:

>>>
>>> x = int(input("Please enter an integer: "))
Please enter an integer: 42
>>> if x < 0:
... x = 0
... print('Negative changed to zero')
... elif x == 0:
... print('Zero')
... elif x == 1:
... print('Single')
... else:
... print('More')
...
More

There can be zero or more elif parts, and the else part is optional. The keyword ‘ elif ’ is short
for ‘else if’, and is useful to avoid excessive indentation. An if … elif … elif … sequence is a
substitute for the switch or case statements found in other languages.

4.2. for Statements

The for statement in Python differs a bit from what you may be used to in C or Pascal. Rather
than always iterating over an arithmetic progression of numbers (like in Pascal), or giving the
user the ability to define both the iteration step and halting condition (as C), Python’s for
statement iterates over the items of any sequence (a list or a string), in the order that they appear
in the sequence. For example (no pun intended):

>>>
>>> # Measure some strings:
... words = ['cat', 'window', 'defenestrate']
>>> for w in words:
... print(w, len(w))
...
cat 3
window 6
defenestrate 12

Code that modifies a collection while iterating over that same collection can be tricky to get right.
Instead, it is usually more straight-forward to loop over a copy of the collection or to create a new
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collection:

# Strategy: Iterate over a copy

for user, status in users.copy().items():
if status == 'inactive':
del users[user]

# Strategy: Create a new collection

active_users = {}
for user, status in users.items():
if status == 'active':
active_users[user] = status

4.3. The range() Function

If you do need to iterate over a sequence of numbers, the built-in function range() comes in
handy. It generates arithmetic progressions:

>>>
>>> for i in range(5):
... print(i)
...
0
1
2
3
4

The given end point is never part of the generated sequence; range(10) generates 10 values,
the legal indices for items of a sequence of length 10. It is possible to let the range start at
another number, or to specify a different increment (even negative; sometimes this is called the
‘step’):

range(5, 10)
5, 6, 7, 8, 9

range(0, 10, 3)
0, 3, 6, 9

range(-10, -100, -30)

-10, -40, -70

To iterate over the indices of a sequence, you can combine range() and len() as follows:

>>>
>>> a = ['Mary', 'had', 'a', 'little', 'lamb']
>>> for i in range(len(a)):
... print(i, a[i])
...
0 Mary
1 had

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2 a
3 little
4 lamb

In most such cases, however, it is convenient to use the enumerate() function, see Looping
Techniques.

A strange thing happens if you just print a range:

>>>
>>> print(range(10))
range(0, 10)

In many ways the object returned by range() behaves as if it is a list, but in fact it isn’t. It is an
object which returns the successive items of the desired sequence when you iterate over it, but it
doesn’t really make the list, thus saving space.

We say such an object is iterable, that is, suitable as a target for functions and constructs that
expect something from which they can obtain successive items until the supply is exhausted. We
have seen that the for statement is such a construct, while an example of function that takes an
iterable is sum() :

>>>
>>> sum(range(4)) # 0 + 1 + 2 + 3
6

Later we will see more functions that return iterables and take iterables as arguments. Lastly,
maybe you are curious about how to get a list from a range. Here is the solution:

>>>
>>> list(range(4))
[0, 1, 2, 3]

In chapter Data Structures, we will discuss in more detail about list() .

4.4. break and continue Statements, and else Clauses on

Loops
The break statement, like in C, breaks out of the innermost enclosing for or while loop.

Loop statements may have an else clause; it is executed when the loop terminates through
exhaustion of the iterable (with for ) or when the condition becomes false (with while ), but not
when the loop is terminated by a break statement. This is exemplified by the following loop,
which searches for prime numbers:

>>>
>>> for n in range(2, 10):
... for x in range(2, n):
... if n % x == 0:
... print(n, 'equals', x, '*', n//x)
... break
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... else:
... # loop fell through without finding a factor
... print(n, 'is a prime number')
...
2 is a prime number
3 is a prime number
4 equals 2 * 2
5 is a prime number
6 equals 2 * 3
7 is a prime number
8 equals 2 * 4
9 equals 3 * 3

(Yes, this is the correct code. Look closely: the else clause belongs to the for loop, not the if
statement.)

When used with a loop, the else clause has more in common with the else clause of a try
statement than it does with that of if statements: a try statement’s else clause runs when no
exception occurs, and a loop’s else clause runs when no break occurs. For more on the try
statement and exceptions, see Handling Exceptions.

The continue statement, also borrowed from C, continues with the next iteration of the loop:

>>>
>>> for num in range(2, 10):
... if num % 2 == 0:
... print("Found an even number", num)
... continue
... print("Found a number", num)
Found an even number 2
Found a number 3
Found an even number 4
Found a number 5
Found an even number 6
Found a number 7
Found an even number 8
Found a number 9

4.5. pass Statements

The pass statement does nothing. It can be used when a statement is required syntactically but
the program requires no action. For example:

>>>
>>> while True:
... pass # Busy-wait for keyboard interrupt (Ctrl+C)
...

This is commonly used for creating minimal classes:

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>>>
>>> class MyEmptyClass:
... pass
...

Another place pass can be used is as a place-holder for a function or conditional body when you
are working on new code, allowing you to keep thinking at a more abstract level. The pass is
silently ignored:

>>>
>>> def initlog(*args):
... pass # Remember to implement this!
...

4.6. Defining Functions

We can create a function that writes the Fibonacci series to an arbitrary boundary:

>>>
>>> def fib(n): # write Fibonacci series up to n
... """Print a Fibonacci series up to n."""
... a, b = 0, 1
... while a < n:
... print(a, end=' ')
... a, b = b, a+b
... print()
...
>>> # Now call the function we just defined:
... fib(2000)
0 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89 144 233 377 610 987 1597

The keyword def introduces a function definition. It must be followed by the function name and
the parenthesized list of formal parameters. The statements that form the body of the function
start at the next line, and must be indented.

The first statement of the function body can optionally be a string literal; this string literal is the
function’s documentation string, or docstring. (More about docstrings can be found in the section
Documentation Strings.) There are tools which use docstrings to automatically produce online or
printed documentation, or to let the user interactively browse through code; it’s good practice to
include docstrings in code that you write, so make a habit of it.

The execution of a function introduces a new symbol table used for the local variables of the
function. More precisely, all variable assignments in a function store the value in the local symbol
table; whereas variable references first look in the local symbol table, then in the local symbol
tables of enclosing functions, then in the global symbol table, and finally in the table of built-in
names. Thus, global variables and variables of enclosing functions cannot be directly assigned a
value within a function (unless, for global variables, named in a global statement, or, for
variables of enclosing functions, named in a nonlocal statement), although they may be
referenced.

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The actual parameters (arguments) to a function call are introduced in the local symbol table of
the called function when it is called; thus, arguments are passed using call by value (where the
value is always an object reference, not the value of the object). [1] When a function calls another
function, a new local symbol table is created for that call.

A function definition introduces the function name in the current symbol table. The value of the
function name has a type that is recognized by the interpreter as a user-defined function. This
value can be assigned to another name which can then also be used as a function. This serves
as a general renaming mechanism:

>>>
>>> fib
<function fib at 10042ed0>
>>> f = fib
>>> f(100)
0 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89

Coming from other languages, you might object that fib is not a function but a procedure since it
doesn’t return a value. In fact, even functions without a return statement do return a value,
albeit a rather boring one. This value is called None (it’s a built-in name). Writing the value None
is normally suppressed by the interpreter if it would be the only value written. You can see it if you
really want to using print() :

>>>
>>> fib(0)
>>> print(fib(0))
None

It is simple to write a function that returns a list of the numbers of the Fibonacci series, instead of
printing it:

>>>
>>> def fib2(n): # return Fibonacci series up to n
... """Return a list containing the Fibonacci series up to n."""
... result = []
... a, b = 0, 1
... while a < n:
... result.append(a) # see below
... a, b = b, a+b
... return result
...
>>> f100 = fib2(100) # call it
>>> f100 # write the result
[0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89]

This example, as usual, demonstrates some new Python features:

The return statement returns with a value from a function. return without an expression
argument returns None . Falling off the end of a function also returns None .
The statement result.append(a) calls a method of the list object result . A method is a
function that ‘belongs’ to an object and is named obj.methodname , where obj is some

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object (this may be an expression), and methodname is the name of a method that is
defined by the object’s type. Different types define different methods. Methods of different
types may have the same name without causing ambiguity. (It is possible to define your
own object types and methods, using classes, see Classes) The method append() shown
in the example is defined for list objects; it adds a new element at the end of the list. In this
example it is equivalent to result = result + [a] , but more efficient.

4.7. More on Defining Functions

It is also possible to define functions with a variable number of arguments. There are three forms,
which can be combined.

4.7.1. Default Argument Values

The most useful form is to specify a default value for one or more arguments. This creates a
function that can be called with fewer arguments than it is defined to allow. For example:

def ask_ok(prompt, retries=4, reminder='Please try again!'):

while True:
ok = input(prompt)
if ok in ('y', 'ye', 'yes'):
return True
if ok in ('n', 'no', 'nop', 'nope'):
return False
retries = retries - 1
if retries < 0:
raise ValueError('invalid user response')
print(reminder)

This function can be called in several ways:

giving only the mandatory argument: ask_ok('Do you really want to quit?')
giving one of the optional arguments: ask_ok('OK to overwrite the file?', 2)
or even giving all arguments: ask_ok('OK to overwrite the file?', 2, 'Come on,
only yes or no!')

This example also introduces the in keyword. This tests whether or not a sequence contains a
certain value.

The default values are evaluated at the point of function definition in the defining scope, so that

i = 5

def f(arg=i):
print(arg)

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i = 6
f()

will print 5 .

Important warning: The default value is evaluated only once. This makes a difference when the
default is a mutable object such as a list, dictionary, or instances of most classes. For example,
the following function accumulates the arguments passed to it on subsequent calls:

def f(a, L=[]):

L.append(a)
return L

print(f(1))
print(f(2))
print(f(3))

This will print

[1]
[1, 2]
[1, 2, 3]

If you don’t want the default to be shared between subsequent calls, you can write the function
like this instead:

def f(a, L=None):

if L is None:
L = []
L.append(a)
return L

4.7.2. Keyword Arguments

Functions can also be called using keyword arguments of the form kwarg=value . For instance,
the following function:

def parrot(voltage, state='a stiff', action='voom', type='Norwegian Blue'):

print("-- This parrot wouldn't", action, end=' ')
print("if you put", voltage, "volts through it.")
print("-- Lovely plumage, the", type)
print("-- It's", state, "!")

accepts one required argument ( voltage ) and three optional arguments ( state , action , and
type ). This function can be called in any of the following ways:

parrot(1000) # 1 positional argument

parrot(voltage=1000) # 1 keyword argument

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parrot(voltage=1000000, action='VOOOOOM') # 2 keyword arguments

parrot(action='VOOOOOM', voltage=1000000) # 2 keyword arguments
parrot('a million', 'bereft of life', 'jump') # 3 positional arguments
parrot('a thousand', state='pushing up the daisies') # 1 positional, 1 keyword

but all the following calls would be invalid:

parrot() # required argument missing

parrot(voltage=5.0, 'dead') # non-keyword argument after a keyword argument
parrot(110, voltage=220) # duplicate value for the same argument
parrot(actor='John Cleese') # unknown keyword argument

In a function call, keyword arguments must follow positional arguments. All the keyword
arguments passed must match one of the arguments accepted by the function (e.g. actor is not
a valid argument for the parrot function), and their order is not important. This also includes
non-optional arguments (e.g. parrot(voltage=1000) is valid too). No argument may receive a
value more than once. Here’s an example that fails due to this restriction:

>>>
>>> def function(a):
... pass
...
>>> function(0, a=0)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
TypeError: function() got multiple values for keyword argument 'a'

When a final formal parameter of the form **name is present, it receives a dictionary (see
Mapping Types — dict) containing all keyword arguments except for those corresponding to a
formal parameter. This may be combined with a formal parameter of the form *name (described
in the next subsection) which receives a tuple containing the positional arguments beyond the
formal parameter list. ( *name must occur before **name .) For example, if we define a function
like this:

def cheeseshop(kind, *arguments, **keywords):

print("-- Do you have any", kind, "?")
print("-- I'm sorry, we're all out of", kind)
for arg in arguments:
print(arg)
print("-" * 40)
for kw in keywords:
print(kw, ":", keywords[kw])

It could be called like this:

cheeseshop("Limburger", "It's very runny, sir.",

"It's really very, VERY runny, sir.",
shopkeeper="Michael Palin",
client="John Cleese",
sketch="Cheese Shop Sketch")

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and of course it would print:

-- Do you have any Limburger ?

-- I'm sorry, we're all out of Limburger
It's very runny, sir.
It's really very, VERY runny, sir.
----------------------------------------
shopkeeper : Michael Palin
client : John Cleese
sketch : Cheese Shop Sketch

Note that the order in which the keyword arguments are printed is guaranteed to match the order
in which they were provided in the function call.

4.7.3. Special parameters

By default, arguments may be passed to a Python function either by position or explicitly by
keyword. For readability and performance, it makes sense to restrict the way arguments can be
passed so that a developer need only look at the function definition to determine if items are
passed by position, by position or keyword, or by keyword.

A function definition may look like:

def f(pos1, pos2, /, pos_or_kwd, *, kwd1, kwd2):

----------- ---------- ----------
| | |
| Positional or keyword |
| - Keyword only
-- Positional only

where / and * are optional. If used, these symbols indicate the kind of parameter by how the
arguments may be passed to the function: positional-only, positional-or-keyword, and keyword-
only. Keyword parameters are also referred to as named parameters.

4.7.3.1. Positional-or-Keyword Arguments

If / and * are not present in the function definition, arguments may be passed to a function by
position or by keyword.

4.7.3.2. Positional-Only Parameters

Looking at this in a bit more detail, it is possible to mark certain parameters as positional-only. If
positional-only, the parameters’ order matters, and the parameters cannot be passed by
keyword. Positional-only parameters are placed before a / (forward-slash). The / is used to
logically separate the positional-only parameters from the rest of the parameters. If there is no /
in the function definition, there are no positional-only parameters.

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Parameters following the / may be positional-or-keyword or keyword-only.

4.7.3.3. Keyword-Only Arguments

To mark parameters as keyword-only, indicating the parameters must be passed by keyword

argument, place an * in the arguments list just before the first keyword-only parameter.

4.7.3.4. Function Examples

Consider the following example function definitions paying close attention to the markers / and
*:

>>>
>>> def standard_arg(arg):
... print(arg)
...
>>> def pos_only_arg(arg, /):
... print(arg)
...
>>> def kwd_only_arg(*, arg):
... print(arg)
...
>>> def combined_example(pos_only, /, standard, *, kwd_only):
... print(pos_only, standard, kwd_only)

The first function definition, standard_arg , the most familiar form, places no restrictions on the
calling convention and arguments may be passed by position or keyword:

>>>
>>> standard_arg(2)
2

>>> standard_arg(arg=2)
2

The second function pos_only_arg is restricted to only use positional parameters as there is a /
in the function definition:

>>>
>>> pos_only_arg(1)
1

>>> pos_only_arg(arg=1)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
TypeError: pos_only_arg() got an unexpected keyword argument 'arg'

The third function kwd_only_args only allows keyword arguments as indicated by a * in the
function definition:

>>>
>>> kwd_only_arg(3)
Traceback (most recent call last):
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File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>

TypeError: kwd_only_arg() takes 0 positional arguments but 1 was given

>>> kwd_only_arg(arg=3)
3

And the last uses all three calling conventions in the same function definition:

>>>
>>> combined_example(1, 2, 3)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
TypeError: combined_example() takes 2 positional arguments but 3 were given

>>> combined_example(1, 2, kwd_only=3)

1 2 3

>>> combined_example(1, standard=2, kwd_only=3)

1 2 3

>>> combined_example(pos_only=1, standard=2, kwd_only=3)

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
TypeError: combined_example() got an unexpected keyword argument 'pos_only'

Finally, consider this function definition which has a potential collision between the positional
argument name and **kwds which has name as a key:

def foo(name, **kwds):

return 'name' in kwds

There is no possible call that will make it return True as the keyword 'name' will always to bind
to the first parameter. For example:

>>>
>>> foo(1, **{'name': 2})
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
TypeError: foo() got multiple values for argument 'name'
>>>

But using / (positional only arguments), it is possible since it allows name as a positional
argument and 'name' as a key in the keyword arguments:

def foo(name, /, **kwds):

return 'name' in kwds
>>> foo(1, **{'name': 2})
True

In other words, the names of positional-only parameters can be used in **kwds without
ambiguity.

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4.7.3.5. Recap

The use case will determine which parameters to use in the function definition:

def f(pos1, pos2, /, pos_or_kwd, *, kwd1, kwd2):

As guidance:

Use positional-only if you want the name of the parameters to not be available to the user.
This is useful when parameter names have no real meaning, if you want to enforce the
order of the arguments when the function is called or if you need to take some positional
parameters and arbitrary keywords.
Use keyword-only when names have meaning and the function definition is more
understandable by being explicit with names or you want to prevent users relying on the
position of the argument being passed.
For an API, use positional-only to prevent breaking API changes if the parameter’s name is
modified in the future.

4.7.4. Arbitrary Argument Lists

Finally, the least frequently used option is to specify that a function can be called with an arbitrary
number of arguments. These arguments will be wrapped up in a tuple (see Tuples and
Sequences). Before the variable number of arguments, zero or more normal arguments may
occur.

def write_multiple_items(file, separator, *args):

file.write(separator.join(args))

Normally, these variadic arguments will be last in the list of formal parameters, because they
scoop up all remaining input arguments that are passed to the function. Any formal parameters
which occur after the *args parameter are ‘keyword-only’ arguments, meaning that they can only
be used as keywords rather than positional arguments.

>>>
>>> def concat(*args, sep="/"):
... return sep.join(args)
...
>>> concat("earth", "mars", "venus")
'earth/mars/venus'
>>> concat("earth", "mars", "venus", sep=".")
'earth.mars.venus'

4.7.5. Unpacking Argument Lists

The reverse situation occurs when the arguments are already in a list or tuple but need to be
unpacked for a function call requiring separate positional arguments. For instance, the built-in

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range() function expects separate start and stop arguments. If they are not available separately,
write the function call with the * -operator to unpack the arguments out of a list or tuple:

>>>
>>> list(range(3, 6)) # normal call with separate arguments
[3, 4, 5]
>>> args = [3, 6]
>>> list(range(*args)) # call with arguments unpacked from a list
[3, 4, 5]

In the same fashion, dictionaries can deliver keyword arguments with the ** -operator:

>>>
>>> def parrot(voltage, state='a stiff', action='voom'):
... print("-- This parrot wouldn't", action, end=' ')
... print("if you put", voltage, "volts through it.", end=' ')
... print("E's", state, "!")
...
>>> d = {"voltage": "four million", "state": "bleedin' demised", "action": "VOOM"
>>> parrot(**d)
-- This parrot wouldn't VOOM if you put four million volts through it. E's bleedi

4.7.6. Lambda Expressions

Small anonymous functions can be created with the lambda keyword. This function returns the
sum of its two arguments: lambda a, b: a+b . Lambda functions can be used wherever function
objects are required. They are syntactically restricted to a single expression. Semantically, they
are just syntactic sugar for a normal function definition. Like nested function definitions, lambda
functions can reference variables from the containing scope:

>>>
>>> def make_incrementor(n):
... return lambda x: x + n
...
>>> f = make_incrementor(42)
>>> f(0)
42
>>> f(1)
43

The above example uses a lambda expression to return a function. Another use is to pass a
small function as an argument:

>>>
>>> pairs = [(1, 'one'), (2, 'two'), (3, 'three'), (4, 'four')]
>>> pairs.sort(key=lambda pair: pair[1])
>>> pairs
[(4, 'four'), (1, 'one'), (3, 'three'), (2, 'two')]

4.7.7. Documentation Strings

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Here are some conventions about the content and formatting of documentation strings.

The first line should always be a short, concise summary of the object’s purpose. For brevity, it
should not explicitly state the object’s name or type, since these are available by other means
(except if the name happens to be a verb describing a function’s operation). This line should
begin with a capital letter and end with a period.

If there are more lines in the documentation string, the second line should be blank, visually
separating the summary from the rest of the description. The following lines should be one or
more paragraphs describing the object’s calling conventions, its side effects, etc.

The Python parser does not strip indentation from multi-line string literals in Python, so tools that
process documentation have to strip indentation if desired. This is done using the following
convention. The first non-blank line after the first line of the string determines the amount of
indentation for the entire documentation string. (We can’t use the first line since it is generally
adjacent to the string’s opening quotes so its indentation is not apparent in the string literal.)
Whitespace “equivalent” to this indentation is then stripped from the start of all lines of the string.
Lines that are indented less should not occur, but if they occur all their leading whitespace should
be stripped. Equivalence of whitespace should be tested after expansion of tabs (to 8 spaces,
normally).

Here is an example of a multi-line docstring:

>>>
>>> def my_function():
... """Do nothing, but document it.
...
... No, really, it doesn't do anything.
... """
... pass
...
>>> print(my_function.__doc__)
Do nothing, but document it.

No, really, it doesn't do anything.

4.7.8. Function Annotations

Function annotations are completely optional metadata information about the types used by user-
defined functions (see PEP 3107 and PEP 484 for more information).

Annotations are stored in the __annotations__ attribute of the function as a dictionary and have
no effect on any other part of the function. Parameter annotations are defined by a colon after the
parameter name, followed by an expression evaluating to the value of the annotation. Return
annotations are defined by a literal -> , followed by an expression, between the parameter list
and the colon denoting the end of the def statement. The following example has a positional
argument, a keyword argument, and the return value annotated:

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>>>
>>> def f(ham: str, eggs: str = 'eggs') -> str:
... print("Annotations:", f.__annotations__)
... print("Arguments:", ham, eggs)
... return ham + ' and ' + eggs
...
>>> f('spam')
Annotations: {'ham': <class 'str'>, 'return': <class 'str'>, 'eggs': <class 'str
Arguments: spam eggs
'spam and eggs'

4.8. Intermezzo: Coding Style

Now that you are about to write longer, more complex pieces of Python, it is a good time to talk
about coding style. Most languages can be written (or more concise, formatted) in different
styles; some are more readable than others. Making it easy for others to read your code is
always a good idea, and adopting a nice coding style helps tremendously for that.

For Python, PEP 8 has emerged as the style guide that most projects adhere to; it promotes a
very readable and eye-pleasing coding style. Every Python developer should read it at some
point; here are the most important points extracted for you:

Use 4-space indentation, and no tabs.

4 spaces are a good compromise between small indentation (allows greater nesting depth)
and large indentation (easier to read). Tabs introduce confusion, and are best left out.
Wrap lines so that they don’t exceed 79 characters.

This helps users with small displays and makes it possible to have several code files side-
by-side on larger displays.
Use blank lines to separate functions and classes, and larger blocks of code inside
functions.
When possible, put comments on a line of their own.
Use docstrings.
Use spaces around operators and after commas, but not directly inside bracketing
constructs: a = f(1, 2) + g(3, 4) .
Name your classes and functions consistently; the convention is to use UpperCamelCase
for classes and lowercase_with_underscores for functions and methods. Always use
self as the name for the first method argument (see A First Look at Classes for more on
classes and methods).
Don’t use fancy encodings if your code is meant to be used in international environments.
Python’s default, UTF-8, or even plain ASCII work best in any case.
Likewise, don’t use non-ASCII characters in identifiers if there is only the slightest chance
people speaking a different language will read or maintain the code.

Footnotes
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[1] Actually, call by object reference would be a better description, since if a mutable object is
passed, the caller will see any changes the callee makes to it (items inserted into a list).

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