Loops / Iterative / Repetitive Statements


 

Python for Loop

What is for loop in Python?
The for loop in Python is used to iterate over a sequence (listtuplestring) or other iterable objects. Iterating over a sequence is called traversal.

Syntax of for Loop

for val in sequence:
        Body of for     

Here, val is the variable that takes the value of the item inside the sequence on each iteration.
Loop continues until we reach the last item in the sequence. The body of for loop is separated from the rest of the code using indentation.

Example: Python for Loop


# Program to find the sum of all numbers stored in a list

# List of numbers
numbers = [6, 5, 3, 8, 4, 2, 5, 4, 11]

# variable to store the sum
sum = 0

# iterate over the list
for val in numbers:
                sum = sum+val

# Output: The sum is 48
print("The sum is", sum)

The range() function

We can generate a sequence of numbers using range() function. range(10) will generate numbers from 0 to 9 (10 numbers).
We can also define the start, stop and step size as range(start,stop,step size). step size defaults to 1 if not provided.
This function does not store all the values in memory, it would be inefficient. So it remembers the start, stop, step size and generates the next number on the go.
To force this function to output all the items, we can use the function list().
The following example will clarify this.
# Output: range(0, 10)
print(range(10))
 
# Output: [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]
print(list(range(10)))
 
# Output: [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]
print(list(range(2, 8)))
 
# Output: [2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17]
print(list(range(2, 20, 3)))   

We can use the range() function in for loops to iterate through a sequence of numbers. It can be combined with the len() function to iterate though a sequence using indexing. Here is an example.
# Program to iterate through a list using indexing

genre = ['pop', 'rock', 'jazz']

# iterate over the list using index
for i in range(len(genre)):
                print("I like", genre[i])

When you run the program, the output will be:
I like pop
I like rock
​I like jazz

for loop with else

A for loop can have an optional else block as well. The else part is executed if the items in the sequence used in for loop exhausts.
break statement can be used to stop a for loop. In such case, the else part is ignored.
Hence, a for loop's else part runs if no break occurs.
Here is an example to illustrate this.
digits = [0, 1, 5]

for i in digits:
    print(i)
else:
    print("No items left.")

When you run the program, the output will be:
0
1
5
No items left

Python Nested For Loops

Loops defined within another Loop are called Nested Loops. Nested loops are used to iterate matrix elements or to perform complex computation.
When an outer loop contains an inner loop in its body it is called Nested Looping.
Python Nested For Loop Syntax
for  <expression>:  
        for <expression>:  
            Body  

Example
for i in range(1,6):  
    for j in range (1,i+1):  
        print i,  
    print  

Output
1  
2 2  
3 3 3  
4 4 4 4  
5 5 5 5 5 




Python while Loop

What is while loop in Python?

The while loop in Python is used to iterate over a block of code as long as the test expression (condition) is true.
We generally use this loop when we don't know beforehand, the number of times to iterate.

Syntax of while Loop in Python

while test_expression:
    Body of while
In while loop, test expression is checked first. The body of the loop is entered only if the test_expression evaluates to True. After one iteration, the test expression is checked again. This process continues until the test_expression evaluates to False.
In Python, the body of the while loop is determined through indentation.
Body starts with indentation and the first unindented line marks the end.
Python interprets any non-zero value as TrueNone and 0 are interpreted as False.

Example: Python while Loop

# Program to add natural
# numbers upto
# sum = 1+2+3+...+n

# To take input from the user,
# n = int(input("Enter n: "))

n = 10

# initialize sum and counter
sum = 0
i = 1

while i <= n:
    sum = sum + i
    i = i+1    # update counter

# print the sum
print("The sum is", sum)

When you run the program, the output will be:
Enter n: 10
The sum is 55
 
In the above program, the test expression will be True as long as our counter variable iis less than or equal to n (10 in our program).
We need to increase the value of counter variable in the body of the loop. This is very important (and mostly forgotten). Failing to do so will result in an infinite loop (never ending loop).
Finally the result is displayed.

while loop with else

Same as that of for loop, we can have an optional else block with while loop as well.
The else part is executed if the condition in the while loop evaluates to False.
The while loop can be terminated with a break statement. In such case, the else part is ignored. Hence, a while loop's else part runs if no break occurs and the condition is false.
Here is an example to illustrate this.
# Example to illustrate
# the use of else statement
# with the while loop
 
counter = 0
 
while counter < 3:
    print("Inside loop")
    counter = counter + 1
else:
    print("Inside else")
Output
Inside loop
Inside loop
Inside loop
Inside else
 
Here, we use a counter variable to print the string Inside loop three times.
On the forth iteration, the condition in while becomes False. Hence, the else part is executed.



No comments:

Post a Comment