TOPIC 3: Conditional Statements & Loops
2. Loops
Loops allow us to repeat a block of code multiple times. There are two main types of loops in Python: for loops and while loops.
For Loop:
A for loop is used when you know how many times you want to execute a block of code. It iterates over a sequence (like a list, range, string, or tuple).
Syntax:
for variable in sequence:
# code to be executed
Example 1: Iterating over a Range
for i in range(5):
print(i)
Explanation: range(5) generates the numbers 0, 1, 2, 3, 4. The for loop prints each of these.
Output:
0
1
2
3
4
Example 2: Iterating over a List
fruits = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
for fruit in fruits:
print(fruit)
Explanation: The loop goes through each item in the fruits list and prints it.
Output:
apple
banana
cherry
While Loop:
A while loop runs as long as the condition is True. It is useful when you don’t know in advance how many times to repeat the block.
Syntax:
while condition:
# code to be executed
Example 1: Basic While Loop
i = 0
while i < 5:
print(i)
i += 1
Explanation: The loop starts with i = 0 and runs until i is less than 5. After each iteration, i is incremented by 1.
Output:
0
1
2
3
4
Example 2: While Loop with Break
i = 0
while i < 5:
if i == 3:
break
print(i)
i += 1
Explanation: The loop runs until i equals 3. At that point, the break statement stops the loop.
Output:
0
1
2