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Learning Financial Analysis with Python from Scratch

Module 3 Conditional Operations and Loops

*We will use Colab for illustration in this note, while most of them work in Jupyter as well.

3.1 If statement
If statement allows us to choose which statements to execute.
 if statement checks whether a given condition is met.
 When the condition is true, a set of codes will be executed.
 Otherwise, an alternative set of codes will be executed (or doing nothing).
 To understand how if statement works, let’s type the following code.
1. scale = input("Do you like learning Python (1-100)? ")
2. scale = float(scale) #convert string to float
3. Q6
4. print("Good to know that you like it!")
5. print("Let’s learn more about coding!")
 The section of code to run when the condition is met has to be indented.
 Indentation can simply make by pressing “Enter” after the “:” in an if statement
 You can also make the indentation by ”Tab” or inserting spaces.
 More than one statement can be controlled by a conditional.
 Each statement should use the same indentation
 You can simply press “Enter” after the first statement to make the same indentation.
 Insert a line after line 4, to print a message "Please like and subscribe! " when scale >= 80.
 Python is a case-sensitive language, so IF and If are not working.

3.2 Else
Else statement allows you to perform an action when the given condition is not met.
 Please insert the following lines after printing the message "Please like and subscribe".
6. else:
7. print("The later chapters would be more interesting!")
 An else statement should have the same indentation level as the if statement.
 To delete an indentation level, you can press “Shift”+“Tab” or “Backspace”.
 The action taken when the else condition is met has to have one indentation level
higher than the else statement.

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3.3 Nested if statement
If statement can be nested inside another if statement.
 Please be reminded that each pair of if statement and else statement should have the same
indentation level.
1. scale = input("Do you like learning Python (1-100)?")
2. scale = float(scale) #convert string to float
3. if scale >= 80:
4. print("Good to know that you like it!")
5. Q7
6. if scale >= 60:
7. print("The later chapters would be more interesting!")
8. else:
9. print("Cheer up! You will like it one day!")
10. print("Let’s learn more about coding!")

3.4 Elif
Elif statement helps us to make nested if statements easier to code and read.
 if statement, elif statement and else statement should have the same indentation level.
5. elif scale >= 60:
6. print("The later chapters would be more interesting! ")
7. else:
8. print("Cheer up! You will like it one day! ")
9. print("Let’s learn more about coding! ")

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3.5 Flow chart
A good practice to code nested conditional statements is to write a flow chart before coding.
 Flow chart for the program in 3.4 is provided in Diagram 1.
 If statement and elif statement are represented by a diamond-shaped box to show two
possible outcomes.
 The condition is written inside the box.
 An arrow line links conditional statements to actions to be performed.
 The path of the arrow line depends on the outcome of the conditional.
 It indicates which actions should be performed.
 The outcomes are written nearby the arrow line with values “Yes” or “No”.
 Actions to be performed are represented by a square box.

Diagram 1
Flow chart for the if function

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3.6 While loop
While loop is used when we want to repeat a series of statements several times until a condition is
not met.
 The body of the loop must be indented
 The body starts after the “:” and ends by the first un-indented line.
 Please try the following code:
1. investment = input("How much do you invest today? ")
2. returns = input("What is your annual return (in percentage)? ")
3. target = input("How much do you want to have in the future? ")
4. i, r, t = float(investment), float(returns), float(target)
5. year = 0
6. Q8
7. i = i + i * r / 100
8. year = year + 1
9. print("You have ",i," after ",year," years")
10. print("It takes you ",int(year)," years to meet your financial target.")
 Most of the time, while loop requires a statement to initialize a variable for counting purposes
and another statement for increment.
 What if the input of annual return is 0?
 While loop could lead to endless iteration.
 Pressing “Ctrl” + “C” can interrupt the execution of the program.
 In Colab, you can click the run icon to stop the execution.
 Flow chart for the program is provided in Diagram 2.

Diagram 2
Flow chart for the while loop

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3.7 Break
When the condition is True, the action in the loop will play repeatedly until a break statement
 A break statement ends a loop in the middle of an execution.
 Replace statements since line 6 in 3.6 with the following code:
6. Q9
7. i = i + i * r / 100
8. year = year + 1
9. print("You have ",i," after ",year, " years")
10. if i >= t:
11. break
12. print("It takes you ",int(year), " years to meet your financial target.")

3.8 For statement

The for statement iterates a series of statements over a sequence.
 The sequence starts from the first argument and ends up to but does not include the second
argument.
 The number in the range has to be an integer.
 Replace statements since line 3 in 3.6 with the following code:
3. time = input(‘How many years do you want to invest? ’)
4. i, r, time = float(investment), float(returns), int(time)
5. Q10
6. i = i + i * r / 100
7. print("You will have ",i," after ",time," years. ")
 Why did the first element set to 0? How many times did the program run?
 For statement does not require setting up a variable for counting purposes.
 Flow chart for the program is provided in Diagram 3.

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Diagram 3
Flow chart for the for statement

3.9 Exercises
1. Write a program to provide the suggested energy consumption per day based on their gender and
age. The following is the suggested calorie consumption:

Age (year) Male Female

18 - <30 2400 1900
30 - <60 2350 1850
>=60 1950 1700

Hints:
 gender = input("Please input your gender (M for male and F for female): ")
 age = int(input("Please input your age: "))
 if age >= 18:

2. Use while loop to ask a user to input again if the first is neither “M” or “F”.

3. Write a program to ask a user to input an integer between 2 and 10,000, and identify whether it is a
prime number.

4. Write a program to ask a user to input a positive integer, and calculate the number of digits of this
number.
End of Module 3

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