ITERATION

(download slides and .py files to follow along)

6.100L Lecture 3
Ana Bell

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LAST LECTURE RECAP

 Strings provide a new data type

 They are sequences of characters, the first one at index 0
 They can be indexed and sliced
 Input
 Done with the input command
 Anything the user inputs is read as a string object!
 Output
 Is done with the print command
 Only objects that are printed in a .py code file will be visible in the shell
 Branching
 Programs execute code blocks when conditions are true
 In an if-elif-elif… structure, the first condition that is True will
be executed
 Indentation matters in Python!
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6.100L Lecture 3
BRANCHING RECAP
if <condition>: if <condition>: if <condition>:
< code > < code > < code >
< code > < code > < code >
... ... ...
elif <condition>: elif <condition>:
if <condition>: < code > < code >
< code > < code > < code >
< code > ... ...
... elif <condition>: else:
else: < code > < code >
< code > < code > < code >
< code > ... ...
...

 <condition> has a value True or False

 Evaluate the first block whose corresponding <condition> is
True
 A block is started by an if statement
 Indentation matters in Python!
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6.100L Lecture 3
  If you keep going right, you are
stuck in the same spot forever
 To exit, take a chance and go
 Zelda, Lost Woods tricks you the opposite way
© Nintendo. All rights reserved. This content is excluded from our Creative
Commons license. For more information, see https://ocw.mit.edu/help/faq-fair-use/

if <exit right>:
<set background to woods_background>
if <exit right>:
<set background to woods_background>
if <exit right>:
<set background to woods_background>
and so on and on and on...
else:
<set background to exit_background>
else:
<set background to exit_background>
else:
<set background to exit_background>
4

6.100L Lecture 3
  If you keep going right, you are
stuck in the same spot forever
 To exit, take a chance and go
 Zelda, Lost Woods tricks you the opposite way
© Nintendo. All rights reserved. This content is excluded from our Creative
Commons license. For more information, see https://ocw.mit.edu/help/faq-fair-use/

while <exit_right>:
<set background to woods_background>
<ask user which way to go>
<set background to exit_background>

6.100L Lecture 3
while LOOPS

6.100L Lecture 3
 BINGE ALL EPISODES OF ONE SHOW

Netflix: start watching a new show

Play the next one

There are
yes
more
episodes to
watch?
no

Suggest 3 more shows like this one

6.100L Lecture 3
CONTROL FLOW: while LOOPS

while <condition>:
<code>
<code>
...
 <condition> evaluates to a Boolean
 If <condition> is True, execute all the steps inside the
while code block
 Check <condition> again
 Repeat until <condition> is False
 If <condition> is never False, then will loop forever!!
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6.100L Lecture 3
while LOOP EXAMPLE

You are in the Lost Forest.

************
************

************
************
Go left or right? where "right"

"left"

PROGRAM:
where = input("You're in the Lost Forest. Go left or right? ")
while where == "right":
where = input("You're in the Lost Forest. Go left or right? ")
print("You got out of the Lost Forest!")

6.100L Lecture 3
YOU TRY IT!
 What is printed when you type "RIGHT"?

where = input("Go left or right? ")

while where == "right":
where = input("Go left or right? ")
print("You got out!")

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6.100L Lecture 3
while LOOP EXAMPLE

n = int(input("Enter a non-negative integer: "))

while n > 0:
print('x')
n = n-1
n 4

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6.100L Lecture 3
while LOOP EXAMPLE

n = int(input("Enter a non-negative integer: "))

while n > 0:
print('x')
n = n-1

 To terminate:
 Hit CTRL-c or CMD-c in the shell
 Click the red square in the shell

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6.100L Lecture 3
YOU TRY IT!
 Run this code and stop the infinite loop in your IDE
while True:
print("noooooo")

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6.100L Lecture 3
 BIG IDEA
while loops can repeat
code inside indefinitely!
Sometimes they need your intervention to end the program.

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6.100L Lecture 3
YOU TRY IT!
 Expand this code to show a sad face when the user entered the
while loop more than 2 times.
 Hint: use a variable as a counter
where = input("Go left or right? ")
while where == "right":
where = input("Go left or right? ")
print("You got out!")

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6.100L Lecture 3
CONTROL FLOW: while LOOPS

 Iterate through numbers in a sequence

n = 0
while n < 5:
print(n)
n = n+1

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6.100L Lecture 3
A COMMON PATTERN

 Find 4!
 i is our loop variable
 factorial keeps track of the product
x = 4
i = 1
factorial = 1
while i <= x:
factorial *= i
i += 1
print(f'{x} factorial is {factorial}')

 Python Tutor LINK

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6.100L Lecture 3
for LOOPS

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6.100L Lecture 3
ARE YOU STILL WATCHING?
Netflix while falling asleep
(it plays only 4 episodes if
you’re not paying attention)

Play the next episode

4 episodes
in the Still more eps
sequence in sequence

Went through all

eps in sequence
Cuts you off 19

6.100L Lecture 3
CONTROL FLOW:
while and for LOOPS

 Iterate through numbers in a sequence

# very verbose with while loop

n = 0
while n < 5:
print(n)
n = n+1

# shortcut with for loop

for n in range(5):
print(n)
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6.100L Lecture 3
STRUCTURE of for LOOPS

for <variable> in <sequence of values>:

<code>
...
 Each time through the loop, <variable> takes a value

 First time, <variable> is the first value in sequence

 Next time, <variable> gets the second value
 etc. until <variable> runs out of values
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6.100L Lecture 3
A COMMON SEQUENCE of VALUES

for <variable> in range(<some_num>):

<code>
<code>
...

for n in range(5):
print(n)

 Each time through the loop, <variable> takes a value

 First time, <variable> starts at 0
 Next time, <variable> gets the value 1
 Then, <variable> gets the value 2
 ...
 etc. until <variable> gets some_num -1
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6.100L Lecture 3
A COMMON SEQUENCE of VALUES

for <variable> in range(<some_num>):

<code>
<code> n 0
... 1

2
for n in range(5): 3
print(n)
4

 Each time through the loop, <variable> takes a value

 First time, <variable> starts at 0
 Next time, <variable> gets the value 1
 Then, <variable> gets the value 2
 ...
 etc. until <variable> gets some_num -1
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6.100L Lecture 3
range

 Generates a sequence of ints, following a pattern

 range(start, stop, step)
 start: first int generated
 stop: controls last int generated (go up to but not including this int)
 step: used to generate next int in sequence
 A lot like what we saw for slicing
 Often omit start and step
 e.g., for i in range(4):
 start defaults to 0
 step defaults to 1
 e.g., for i in range(3,5):
 step defaults to 1

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6.100L Lecture 3
YOU TRY IT!
 What do these print?
 for i in range(1,4,1):
print(i)
 for j in range(1,4,2):
print(j*2)
 for me in range(4,0,-1):
print("$"*me)

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6.100L Lecture 3
RUNNING SUM

 mysum is a variable to store the running sum

 range(10) makes i be 0 then 1 then 2 then … then 9

mysum = 0 i 0

for i in range(10):
mysum += i
print(mysum)

mysum 0

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6.100L Lecture 3
RUNNING SUM

 mysum is a variable to store the running sum

 range(10) makes i be 0 then 1 then 2 then … then 9

mysum = 0 i 0

for i in range(10): 1

mysum += i
print(mysum)

mysum 0
1

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6.100L Lecture 3
RUNNING SUM

 mysum is a variable to store the running sum

 range(10) makes i be 0 then 1 then 2 then … then 9

mysum = 0 i 0

for i in range(10): 1

mysum += i 2

print(mysum)

mysum 1
3

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6.100L Lecture 3
RUNNING SUM

 mysum is a variable to store the running sum

 range(10) makes i be 0 then 1 then 2 then … then 9

mysum = 0 i 0

for i in range(10): 1

mysum += i 2

print(mysum) 3

mysum 3
6

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6.100L Lecture 3
RUNNING SUM

 mysum is a variable to store the running sum

 range(10) makes i be 0 then 1 then 2 then … then 9

mysum = 0 i 0

for i in range(10): 1

mysum += i 2

print(mysum)
…
3

mysum 36
45

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6.100L Lecture 3
YOU TRY IT!
 Fix this code to use variables start and end in the range, to get
the total sum between and including those values.
 For example, if start=3 and end=5 then the sum should be 12.
mysum = 0
start = ??
end = ??
for i in range(start, end):
mysum += i
print(mysum)

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6.100L Lecture 3
for LOOPS and range

 Factorial implemented with a while loop (seen this already)

and a for loop
x = 4
i = 1
factorial = 1
while i <= x:
factorial *= i
i += 1
print(f'{x} factorial is {factorial}’)

x = 4
factorial = 1
for i in range(1, x+1, 1):
factorial *= i
print(f'{x} factorial is {factorial}')
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6.100L Lecture 3
 BIG IDEA
for loops only repeat
for however long the
sequence is
The loop variables takes on these values in order.

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6.100L Lecture 3
SUMMARY

 Looping mechanisms
 while and for loops
 Lots of syntax today, be sure to get lots of practice!
 While loops
 Loop as long as a condition is true
 Need to make sure you don’t enter an infinite loop
 For loops
 Can loop over ranges of numbers
 Can loop over elements of a string
 Will soon see many other things are easy to loop over

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6.100L Lecture 3
MITOpenCourseWare
https://ocw.mit.edu

6.100L Introduction to Computer Science and Programming Using Python

Fall 2022

Forinformation aboutciting these materials orourTerms ofUse,visit: https://ocw.mit.edu/terms.

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