Safari - Jun 9, 2022 at 2:56 PM

This lesson is in the early stages of development
(Alpha version)
Home
 Data Analysis and 

Visualization with Python
for Social Scientists *alpha*
Python control
structures
 Overview
Teaching: 20 min
Exercises: 25 min
Questions
What constructs are available for changing the flow
of a program?
How can I repeat an action many times?
How can I perform the same task(s) on a set of
items?
Objectives
Change program flow using available language
constructs
Demonstrate how to execute a section of code a
fixed number of times
Demonstrate how to conditionally execute a
section of code
Demonstrate how to execute a section of code on a
list of items
Programs are rarely linear

Most programs do not work by executing a simple sequential
set of statements. The code is constructed so that decisions
and different paths through the program can be taken based
on changes in variable values.
To make this possible all programming language have a set

of control structures which allow this to happen.
In this episode we are going to look at how we can create

loops and branches in our Python code. Specifically we will
look at three control structures, namely:
if..else..
while…
for …
The if statement and

variants
The simple if statement allows the program to branch
based on the evaluation of an expression
The basic format of the if statement is:
Python
if expression :
statement 1
statement 2
...
statement n
statement always executed
If the expression evaluates to True then the statements 1

to n will be executed followed by
statement always executed . If the expression is
False , only statement always executed is executed.
Python knows which lines of code are related to the if
statement by the indentation, no extra syntax is necessary.
Below are some examples:
Python
print("\nExample 1\n")
value = 5
threshold= 4
print("value is", value, "threshold is ",thre
shold)
if value > threshold :
print(value, "is bigger than ", threshold
)
high_threshold = 6
print("value is", value, "new threshold is ",
high_threshold)
if value > high_threshold :
print(value , "is above ", high_threshold
, "threshold")
mid_threshold = 5
print("value is", value, "final threshold is
",mid_threshold)
if value == mid_threshold :
print("value, ", value, " and threshold,"
, mid_threshold, ", are equal")
Output
Example 1
value is 5 threshold is 4
5 is bigger than 4
Example 2
value is 5 new threshold is 6
Example 3
value is 5 final threshold is 5

value, 5, and threshold, 5, are equal
In the examples above there are three things to notice:
1. The colon : at the end of the if line. Leaving this out

is a common error.
2. The indentation of the print statement. If you
remembered the : on the line before, Jupyter (or any
other Python IDE) will automatically do the indentation
for you. All of the statements indented at this level are
considered to be part of the if statement. This is a
feature fairly unique to Python, that it cares about the
indentation. If there is too much, or too little indentation,
you will get an error.
3. The if statement is ended by removing the indent.
There is no explicit end to the if statement as there is
in many other programming languages
In the last example, notice that in Python the operator used

to check equality is == .
✏ Exercise
Add another if statement to example 2 that will check if b

is greater than or equal to a
 Solution 
Instead of using two separate if statements to decide

which is larger we can use the if ... else ... construct
Python
# if ... else ...
value = 4
threshold = 5
print("value = ", value, "and threshold = ",
threshold)
if value > threshold :

print("above threshold")
else :
print("below threshold")
Output
value = 4 and threshold = 5

below threshold
✏ Exercise
Repeat above with different operators ‘<’ , ‘==’
A further extension of the if statement is the

if ... elif ...else version.
The example below allows you to be more specific about the

comparison of a and b.
Python
# if ... elif ... else ... endIf
a = 5
b = 4
print("a = ", a, "and b = ", b)
if a > b :
print(a, " is greater than ", b)
elif a == b :
print(a, " equals ", b)
else :
print(a, " is less than ", b)
Output
a = 5 and b = 4
5 is greater than 4
The overall structure is similar to the if ... else

statement. There are three additional things to notice:
1. Each elif clause has its own test expression.

2. You can have as many elif clauses as you need
3. Execution of the whole statement stops after an elif
expression is found to be True. Therefore the ordering of
the elif clause can be significant.
The while loop

The while loop is used to repeatedly execute lines of code
until some condition becomes False.
For the loop to terminate, there has to be something in the

code which will potentially change the condition.
Python
# while loop
n = 10
cur_sum = 0
# sum of n numbers
i = 1
while i <= n :
cur_sum = cur_sum + i
i = i + 1
print("The sum of the numbers from 1 to", n,
"is ", cur_sum)
Output
The sum of the numbers from 1 to 10 is 55
Points to note:
1. The condition clause (i <= n) in the while statement can

be anything which when evaluated would return a
Boolean value of either True of False. Initially i has been
set to 1 (before the start of the loop) and therefore the
condition is True .
2. The clause can be made more complex by use of
parentheses and and and or operators amongst
others
3. The statements after the while clause are only executed
if the condition evaluates as True.
4. Within the statements after the while clause there should
be something which potentially will make the condition
evaluate as False next time around. If not the loop will
never end.
5. In this case the last statement in the loop changes the
value of i which is part of the condition clause, so
hopefully the loop will end.
6. We called our variable cur_sum and not sum because
sum is a builtin function (try typing it in, notice the
editor changes it to green). If we define sum = 0 now
we can’t use the function sum in this Python session.
✏ Exercise - Things that can go wrong

with while loops
In the examples below, without running them try to

decide why we will not get the required answer. Run
each, one at a time, and then correct them. Remember
that when the input next to a notebook cell is [*] your
Python interpreter is still working.
Python
# while loop - summing the numbers 1 to 10

n = 10
cur_sum = 0
# sum of n numbers
i = 0
while i <= n :
i = i + 1
print("The sum of the numbers from 1 to", n

, "is ", cur_sum)
Python

n = 10
cur_sum = 0
boolvalue = False
# sum of n numbers
i = 0
while i <= n and boolvalue:
i = i + 1

, "is ", cur_sum)
Python

n = 10
cur_sum = 0
# sum of n numbers
i = 0
while i != n :
i = i + 1

, "is ", cur_sum)
Python
# while loop - summing the numbers 1.1 to 9

.9 i. steps of 1.1
n = 9.9
cur_sum = 0
# sum of n numbers
i = 0
while i != n :
i = i + 1.1
print(i)
print("The sum of the numbers from 1.1 to",

n, "is ", sum)
 Solution 
The for loop

The for loop, like the while loop repeatedly executes a set of
statements. The difference is that in the for loop we know in
at the outset how often the statements in the loop will be
executed. We don’t have to rely on a variable being changed
within the looping statements.
The basic format of the for statement is
Python
for variable_name in some_sequence :

statement1
statement2
...
statementn
The key part of this is the some_sequence . The phrase

used in the documentation is that it must be ‘iterable’. That
means, you can count through the sequence, starting at the
beginning and stopping at the end.
There are many examples of things which are iterable some

of which we have already come across.
Lists are iterable - they don’t have to contain numbers,

you iterate over the elements in the list.
The range() function
The characters in a string
Python
for i in [1,2,3] :
print(i)
for name in ["Tom", "Dick", "Harry"] :
print(name)
for name in ["Tom", 42, 3.142] :
print(name)
for i in range(3) :
print(i)
for i in range(1,4) :
print(i)
for i in range(2, 11, 2) :
print(i)
for i in "ABCDE" :
print(i)
longString = "The quick brown fox jumped over
the lazy sleeping dog"
for word in longString.split() :
print(word)
Output
Example 1
1
2
3
Example 2
Tom
Dick
Harry
Example 3
Tom
42
3.142
Example 4
0
1
2
Example 5
1
2
3
Example 6
2
4
6
8
10
Example 7
A
B
C
D
E
Example 8
The
quick
brown
fox
jumped
over
the
lazy
sleeping
dog
✏ Exercise
Suppose that we have a string containing a set of 4

different types of values separated by , like this:
Python
variablelist = "01/01/2010,34.5,Yellow,True
"
Research the split() method and then rewrite

example 8 from the for loop section above so that it
prints the 4 components of variablelist
 Solution 
 Key Points
Most programs will require ‘Loops’ and ‘Branching’

constructs.
The if , elif , else statements allow for
branching in code.
The for and while statements allow for looping
through sections of code
The programmer must provide a condition to end a
while loop.
 
Licensed under CC-BY 4.0 2018–2022 by The Carpentries
Licensed under CC-BY 4.0 2016–2018 by Data Carpentry
Edit on GitHub / Contributing / Source / Cite / Contact
Using The Carpentries style version 9.5.3.

Safari - Jun 9, 2022 at 2:56 PM

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Safari - Jun 9, 2022 at 2:56 PM

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Safari - Jun 9, 2022 at 2:56 PM

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

This lesson is in the early stages of development

 Data Analysis and 

Programs are rarely linear

To make this possible all programming language have a set

In this episode we are going to look at how we can create

The if statement and

The basic format of the if statement is:

statement always executed

If the expression evaluates to True then the statements 1

Below are some examples:

value is 5 new threshold is 6

value is 5 final threshold is 5

In the examples above there are three things to notice:

1. The colon : at the end of the if line. Leaving this out

In the last example, notice that in Python the operator used

Add another if statement to example 2 that will check if b

Instead of using two separate if statements to decide

# if ... else ...

if value > threshold :

value = 4 and threshold = 5

Repeat above with diﬀerent operators ‘<’ , ‘==’

A further extension of the if statement is the

The example below allows you to be more specific about the

# if ... elif ... else ... endIf

The overall structure is similar to the if ... else

1. Each elif clause has its own test expression.

The while loop

For the loop to terminate, there has to be something in the

The sum of the numbers from 1 to 10 is 55

1. The condition clause (i <= n) in the while statement can

✏ Exercise - Things that can go wrong

In the examples below, without running them try to

# while loop - summing the numbers 1 to 10

print("The sum of the numbers from 1 to", n

# while loop - summing the numbers 1 to 10

print("The sum of the numbers from 1 to", n

# while loop - summing the numbers 1 to 10

print("The sum of the numbers from 1 to", n

# while loop - summing the numbers 1.1 to 9

print("The sum of the numbers from 1.1 to",

The for loop

The basic format of the for statement is

for variable_name in some_sequence :

The key part of this is the some_sequence . The phrase

There are many examples of things which are iterable some

Lists are iterable - they don’t have to contain numbers,

Suppose that we have a string containing a set of 4

Research the split() method and then rewrite

Most programs will require ‘Loops’ and ‘Branching’

Using The Carpentries style version 9.5.3.

You might also like