PROGRAMMING WITH PYTHON 3.X.

x – DECISION & REPETITION

1. Decision Control.
In simple terms, the Python if statement selects actions to perform. Along with its
expression counterpart, it’s the primary selection tool in Python and represents much of the
logic a Python program possesses.

 Decision-making is the anticipation of conditions occurring during the execution of a

program and specified actions taken according to the conditions.
 Decision structures evaluate multiple expressions, which produce TRUE or FALSE
as the outcome. You need to determine which action to take and which statements to
execute if the outcome is TRUE or FALSE otherwise.

Following is the general form of a typical decision making structure found in most of the
programming languages-

Python programming language assumes:

 Any non-zero and non-null values as TRUE
 Either zero or null, then it is assumed as FALSE value.

Python programming language provides following types of decision making statements.

THE ONE-WAY IF STATEMENT

if statements
if statement consists of a Boolean expression followed by one or more statements.

THE TWO-WAY IF STATEMENT

if...else statements
An if statement can be followed by an optional else statement, which executes when
the Boolean expression is FALSE.

THE MULTIWAY IF STATEMENT

if...elif...elif...else
The elif statement allows you to check multiple expressions for TRUE.

THE NESTED IF STATEMENT

nested if statements
You can use one if or else if statement inside another if or else if statement(s).

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 PROGRAMMING WITH PYTHON 3.X.x – DECISION & REPETITION

THE IF STATEMENT

>>> if 1:
print('true')

true
>>>
>>>

age =int(input("Enter your age :"))

if (age <= 18):
print("You are not eligible for voting, try in next election!")
print("Program ends")

The output of the above program is as shown below:

Enter your age :18

You are not eligible for voting, try in next election!
Program ends

Enter your age :41

Program ends

 When we enter the input value up to 18, then the if condition checks if age <= 18 i.e.,
 the expression is evaluated and return TRUE value so the next statement of the if
block runs and print the results.
 Similarly when we enter a value higher than the range i.e., greater then 18, then the
expression evaluates and return FALSE so the Python interpreter do not execute the
if block at all and so come out of it.
 The next statement which is not a part of the if block will execute.

Note: In Python the block of code will be treated as one block as per the indentation, after
the conditional statement followed by a colon as shown in the above examples.

Compiled by: Michael Devine. 8884009669

 PROGRAMMING WITH PYTHON 3.X.x – DECISION & REPETITION

Example : A Supermarket offers you, a discount of 10% if the quantity purchased is more
than 2000. Write a program to calculate the total expenses and enter the quantity and price
per item as input through the keyboard.

quantity = int(input("Enter quantity :"))

priceperitem = float(input("Enter rate :"))
discount=0.0
if(quantity >2000):
discount = 0.10
total=(quantity * priceperitem) - (quantity * priceperitem * discount)
print("Discount =%.2f" %discount)
print("Total expenses = %.2f" %total)

The output is shown below:

Enter quantity :1000

Enter rate :10.5
Discount =0.00
Total expenses = 10500.00

Enter quantity :2500

Enter rate :10.5
Discount =0.10
Total expenses = 23625.00

SINGLE STATEMENT SUITES

If the suite of an if clause consists only of a single line, it may go on the same line as
the header statement. Here is an example of a one-line if clause-

var = 100
if ( var == 100 ) :
print ("Value of expression is 100")
print ("Good bye!")

When the above code is executed, it produces the following result-

Value of expression is 100

Good bye!

Compiled by: Michael Devine. 8884009669

 PROGRAMMING WITH PYTHON 3.X.x – DECISION & REPETITION

MULTIPLE STATEMENTS WITHIN IF

It is common in many programs to have more than one statement to be executed if the
expression following if is satisfied. If such multiple statements are to be executed then they
must be properly indented, as illustrated in the following example.

Example: In the below program the current year and the year in which the employee joined
the organization are entered through the keyboard using input() function. If the number of
years for which the employee has served the organization is greater than 2 then a bonus of
USD 1500/- is given to the employee. If the years of service are not greater than 2, then the
program should do nothing.

bonus = 0.0
currentyear = int(input("Enter current year :"))
yearofjoining = int(input("Enter year of joining :"))
yearofservice = currentyear – yearofjoining
if(yearofservice >2):
bonus = 1500
print("Bonus =%d" %bonus)
print("Congratulation! We are happy to provide you a bonus of %d" %bonus)
print("We appreciate your long term association with us!")

print("\nThis statement is not part of the above if condition because it is not indented as a
part of the if statement")

The output of the above program is as follows:

Enter current year :2015

Enter year of joining :2000
Bonus =1500
Congratulation! We are happy to provide you a bonus of 1500
We appreciate your long term association with us!
This statement is not part of the above if condition because it is not indented as a part of the
if statement

Enter current year :2015

Enter year of joining :2014
This statement is not part of the above if condition because it is not indented as a part of the
if statement

Compiled by: Michael Devine. 8884009669

 PROGRAMMING WITH PYTHON 3.X.x – DECISION & REPETITION

THE IF-ELSE STATEMENT

The if statement by itself will execute a single statement, or a group of statements,
when the expression following if evaluates to true. It does nothing when the expression
evaluates to false. We can execute one group of statements if the expression evaluates to
true and another group of statements if the expression evaluates to false. This could be
done with the help of else statement.

Example : In a xyz company, an employee is paid his remuneration under these condition:
If his basic salary is less than USD. 2000, then HRA = 10% of basic salary and DA = 90%
of basic salary. If his salary is either equal to or above USD. 2000, then HRA = 5% and DA
= 80% of basic salary. We will write a program to find his gross salary.

basicsalary = int(input("Enter Basic Salary :"))

if(basicsalary < 2000):
hra = basicsalary * 10/100;da = basicsalary * 90/100
else:
hra = basicsalary * 5/100;da = basicsalary * 80/100
grosssalary = basicsalary + hra + da
print("Salary Slip :")
print("-" *50)
print("Your Basic Salary is %d" %basicsalary)
print("Your hra is calculated as %.2f" %hra)
print("Your da is calculated as %.2f" %da)
print("-" *50)
print("Gross salary is %.2f" %grosssalary)

The output of the above program is as follows:

Enter Basic Salary :1800

Salary Slip :
--------------------------------------------------
Your Basic Salary is 1800
Your hra is calculated as 180.00
Your da is calculated as 1620.00
--------------------------------------------------
Gross salary is 3600.00
Enter Basic Salary :3000
Salary Slip :
--------------------------------------------------
Your Basic Salary is 3000
Your hra is calculated as 150.00
Your da is calculated as 2400.00
--------------------------------------------------
Gross salary is 5550.00
Compiled by: Michael Devine. 8884009669
 PROGRAMMING WITH PYTHON 3.X.x – DECISION & REPETITION

THE ELIF STATEMENT

 The elif statement allows you to check multiple expressions for TRUE and execute a
block of code as soon as one of the conditions evaluates to TRUE.
 Similar to the else, the elif statement is optional.
 However, unlike else, for which there can be at most one statement, there can be an
arbitrary number of elif statements following an if.

if expression1:
statement(s)
elif expression2:
statement(s)
elif expression3:
statement(s)
else:
statement(s)

Example

x = int(input("Please enter an integer: "))

if x < 0:
print('Negative number')
elif x == 0:
print('Zero')
elif x == 1:
print('Single')
else:
print('Bigger number .....')

The output is as follows:

Please enter an integer: -1

Negative number
Please enter an integer: 0
Zero
Please enter an integer: 1
Single
Single
Please enter an integer: 100
Bigger number .....

Core Python does not provide switch / case statements as in other languages, but we can
use if..elif... statements to simulate switch case as follows:

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 PROGRAMMING WITH PYTHON 3.X.x – DECISION & REPETITION

Example :

Pizza choice example: Suppose you have visited a Pizza restaurant and you want to order a
pizza of your choice. Select Pizza from the menu.

print("Let's enjoy a Pizza, okay let's go inside the Pizzahut!")

print("Waiter, Please select Pizza of your choice from the menu")
pizzachoice = int(input("Please enter your choice of Pizza: "))
if pizzachoice == 1:
print('I want to enjoy a pizza napoletana')
elif pizzachoice == 2:
print('I want to enjoy a pizza rustica')
elif pizzachoice == 3:
print('I want to enjoy a pizza capricciosa')
else:
print("Sorry I do not want any of the listed Pizza's, please bring a Coca Cola for me")

The output is as follows:

Let's enjoy a Pizza, okay let's go inside the Pizzahut!

Waiter, Please select Pizza of your choice from the menu
Please enter your choice of Pizza: 1
I want to enjoy a pizza napoletana

Let's enjoy a Pizza, okay let's go inside the Pizzahut!

Waiter, Please select Pizza of your choice from the menu
Please enter your choice of Pizza: 2
I want to enjoy a pizza rustica

Let's enjoy a Pizza, okay let's go inside the Pizzahut!

Waiter, Please select Pizza of your choice from the menu
Please enter your choice of Pizza: 3
I want to enjoy a pizza capricciosa

Let's enjoy a Pizza, okay let's go inside the Pizzahut!

Waiter, Please select Pizza of your choice from the menu
Please enter your choice of Pizza: 10
Sorry I do not want any of the listed Pizza's, please bring a Coca Cola for me

Compiled by: Michael Devine. 8884009669

 PROGRAMMING WITH PYTHON 3.X.x – DECISION & REPETITION

THE NESTED IF STATEMENTS

 There may be a situation when you want to check for another condition after a
condition resolves to true.
 In such a situation, you can use the nested if construct.
 In a nested if construct, you can have an if...elif...else construct inside another
if...elif...else construct.

if expression1:
statement(s)
if expression2:
statement(s)
elif expression3:
statement(s)
else
statement(s)
elif expression4:
statement(s)
else:
statement(s)

Example

var = 1000
if var < 2000:
print ("Expression value is less than 2000")
if var == 1500:
print ("Which is 1500")
elif var == 1000:
print ("Which is 1000")
elif var == 500:
print ("Which is 500")
elif var < 500:
print ("Expression value is less than 500")
else:
print ("Could not find true expression")

print "Good bye! Will enjoy Python Programming again!"

The output is as follows:

Expression value is less than 2000

Which is 1000
Good bye! Will enjoy Python Programming again!

Compiled by: Michael Devine. 8884009669

 PROGRAMMING WITH PYTHON 3.X.x – DECISION & REPETITION

 In the above example, the variable var is assigned the value 1000 and
 the first if statement checks if the var has less than 2000, the answer is yes,
 the print statement is executed and
 the below if condition is false,
 so the elif statement executed,
 it’s value is 1000 which is equal to the value in var so this is printed.
 After that the rest statement is false so did not executed.
 Finally the print statement which is outside of the if-elif-else construct is executed.

IF COMPREHENSION

example:
When reporting the number of characters in a string, instead of printing “0 character(s)”, “1
character (s)” or 10 character(s), we could use a couple of conditional expressions:

>>> s=input('string ??')

string ??qwerty
>>> s
'qwerty'
>>> print('{} character{}'.format((len(s) if len(s)>0 else 'No'),('' if len(s)==1 else 's')))
6 characters
>>>
>>> s=input('string ??')
string ??
>>> print('{} character{}'.format((len(s) if len(s)>0 else 'No'),('' if len(s)==1 else 's')))
No characters
>>>
>>> s=input('string ??')
string ??1
>>> print('{} character{}'.format((len(s) if len(s)>0 else 'No'),('' if len(s)==1 else 's')))
1 character
>>>
>>>

This will print “no characters”, “1 character”, “6 characters”, etc, which gives a much more
professional impression.

Compiled by: Michael Devine. 8884009669

 PROGRAMMING WITH PYTHON 3.X.x – DECISION & REPETITION

2. LOOPS.
A loop statement allows us to execute a statement or group of statements multiple times.
The following diagram illustrates a loop statement. Python programming language provides
a while loop to handle looping requirements.

The WHILE Loop.

 The while ... : operation will first check for its test condition (the ... between the
while and the : ) and if it’s True , it will evaluate the statements in its indented block
a first time.
 After it reaches the end of its indented block, which can include other indented
blocks, it will once again evaluate its test condition to see whether it is still True .
 If it is, it will repeat its actions again;
 However, if it is False , Python leaves the indented section and continues to evaluate
the rest of the program after the while ...: section.

The code in a while clause will be executed as long as the while statement’s condition is
True. In code, a while statement always consists of the following:

 The while keyword

 A condition (that is, an expression that evaluates to True or False)
 A colon
 Starting on the next line, an indented block of code (called the while clause)

>>> while True:

print('Type Ctrl-C to stop me!')

>>> x = 'spam'
>>> while x: # While x is not empty
print(x, end=' ') # In 2.X use print x,
x = x[1:]

spam pam am m

Note the end=' ' keyword argument used here to place all outputs on the same line
separated by a space;

>>> a=0; b=10

>>> while a < b: # One way to code counter loops
print(a, end=' ')
a += 1 # Or, a = a + 1

0123456789
Compiled by: Michael Devine. 8884009669
 PROGRAMMING WITH PYTHON 3.X.x – DECISION & REPETITION

You could also use a loop to ensure that the user enters a name, as follows:

name = ''
while not name:
name = input('Please enter your name: ')
print( 'Hello, %s!' % name)

name = ''
while not name or name.isspace():
name = input('Please enter your name: ')
print( 'Hello, %s!' % name)

name = ''
while not name.strip():
name = input('Please enter your name: ')
print( 'Hello, %s!' % name)

We could use relational or logical operators in the while loop for example:

while(i<=10)
while(i>=10 and j <=20)
while(j > 10 and (b<15) or c<20))

x=1
while x <= 10:
print( x);
x += 1

Compiled by: Michael Devine. 8884009669

 PROGRAMMING WITH PYTHON 3.X.x – DECISION & REPETITION

Calculation of simple interest. Ask user to input principal, rate of interest, number of years

counter = 1
while(counter <= 3):
principal = int(input("Enter the principal amount :"))
numberofyears = int(input("Enter the number of years :"))
rateofinterest = float(input("Enter the rate of interest :"))
simpleinterest = principal * numberofyears * rateofinterest/100
print("Simple interest =%.2f" %simpleinterest)
counter = counter + 1

print("You have calculated simple interest for 3 time!")

Enter the principal amount :1000

Enter the number of years :5
Enter the rate of interest :10
Simple interest =500.00

Enter the principal amount :1000

Enter the number of years :5
Enter the rate of interest :13.5
Simple interest =675.00

Enter the principal amount :2500

Enter the number of years :2
Enter the rate of interest :10
Simple interest =500.00

You have calculated simple interest for 3 time!

Compiled by: Michael Devine. 8884009669

 PROGRAMMING WITH PYTHON 3.X.x – DECISION & REPETITION

THE LOOP CONTROL STATEMENTS

 break,
 continue,
 pass,
 Loop else

Now that we’ve seen a few Python loops in action, it’s time to take a look at two simple
statements that have a purpose only when nested inside loops—the break and continue
statements.

While we’re looking at oddballs, we will also study the loop else clause here because it is
intertwined with break, and Python’s empty placeholder statement, pass (which is not tied
to loops per se, but falls into the general category of simple one-word statements).

In Python:

break
Jumps out of the closest enclosing loop (past the entire loop statement)
continue
Jumps to the top of the closest enclosing loop (to the loop’s header line)
pass
Does nothing at all: it’s an empty statement placeholder
Loop else block
Runs if and only if the loop is exited normally (i.e., without hitting a break)
 If you use break , it will only take you out of the most recent loop
 If you have a while ... : loop that contains a for ... in ... : loop indented within it, a
break within the for ... in ... : will not break out of the while ... : .
 Both while ... : and for ... in ... : loops can have an else: statement at the end of the
loop, but it will be run only if the loop doesn’t end due to a break statement.

The general format of the while loop looks like this:

while test:
statements
if test:
break # Exit loop now, skip else if present
if test:
continue # Go to top of loop now
statements
statements
else: # Run if we didn't hit a 'break'
statements

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 PROGRAMMING WITH PYTHON 3.X.x – DECISION & REPETITION

PASS
If you want to code an infinite loop that does nothing each time through, do it with a
pass:

>>>while True: pass # Type Ctrl-C to stop me!

Because the body is just an empty statement, Python gets stuck in this loop. pass is roughly
to statements as None is to objects—an explicit nothing.

ELSE
The loop else clause is unique to Python. In its most complex form, the while
statement consists of a header line with a test expression, a body of one or more normally
indented statements, and an optional else part that is executed if control exits the loop
without a break statement being encountered. Python keeps evaluating the test at the top
and executing the statements nested in the loop body until the test returns a false value:

while test: # Loop test

statements # Loop body
else: # Optional else
statements # Run if didn't exit loop with break

BREAK
There is a shortcut to getting the program execution to break out of a while loop’s
clause early. If the execution reaches a break statement, it immediately exits the while
loop’s clause. In code, a break statement simply contains the break keyword.

while True:
print('Please type your name.')
name = input()
if name == 'your name':
break
print('Thank you!')
The first line creates an infinite loop; it is a while loop whose condition is always True.
The program execution will always enter the loop and will exit it only when a break
statement is executed.

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 PROGRAMMING WITH PYTHON 3.X.x – DECISION & REPETITION

CONTINUE
When the program execution reaches a continue statement, the program execution
immediately jumps back to the start of the loop and re-evaluates the loop’s condition.

while True:
print('Who are you?')
name = input()
if name != 'Joe':
continue
print('Hello, Joe. What is the password? (It is a fish.)')
password = input()
if password == 'swordfish':
break
print('Access granted.')

The following piece of code determines whether a number is prime.

ctr = 2
num = int(input("Enter a Number :"))
while(ctr <= num-1):
if(num % ctr == 0):
print("Number is not prime!")
break;
ctr = ctr + 1

print("End of the program")

The following piece of code determines whether a positive integer y is prime by searching
for factors greater than 1:

y = int(input("Enter a Number :"))

x = y // 2 #y>1
while x > 1:
if y % x == 0: # Remainder
print(y, 'has factor', x)
break # Skip else
x -= 1
else: # Normal exit
print(y, 'is prime')

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 PROGRAMMING WITH PYTHON 3.X.x – DECISION & REPETITION

 Rather than setting a flag to be tested when the loop is exited, it inserts a break where
a factor is found. This way, the loop else clause can assume that it will be executed
only if no factor is found;
 If you don’t hit the break, the number is prime.
 The loop else clause is also run if the body of the loop is never executed, as you don’t
run a break in that event either;
 In a while loop, this happens if the test in the header is false to begin with.
 Thus, in the preceding example you still get the “is prime” message if x is initially
less than or equal to 1 (for instance, if y is 2).

Compiled by: Michael Devine. 8884009669