Lecture – 05

Repetition Statements (while and for loops)

Complied by: Subash Khatiwada

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Topic Learning Outcomes
• Understand the concept and usage of repetition
statements.
• Apply different types of loops, such as for and while.
• Select
the correct type of loop based on a given
problem.
• Use loops to solve common problems, such as,

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finding sum, finding max, average etc.
• Apply nested loops
• Use the keywords break and continue
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Contents & Structure
Iterative (loops) structures in python

While loop as Condition-Controlled Loop and sentinel controlled

For loop as Count-Controlled and enhanced loop

Break and continue

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Nested loops

Infinite loops

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Control Structure - Repetition

yes Loop
Condition
Statement(s)
no

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Repetition: Computer View
Continuing a process as long as a certain condition
has been met. How old are you?

Ask for age as long as

the answer is negative

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21! Minus 21!

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Repetition Structure in Python

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Used when
you know
how many
FOR
times to
repeat / do
something

Used when
you do not
know how

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WHILE
many
times to
repeat.

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How To Determine If Loops Can Be

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Applied

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How To Determine If Loops Can Be

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Applied
• Something needs to occur multiple
times (generally it will repeat itself as
long as some condition has been met). Flowchart
N
Play again?

Y
Run game again

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END GAME
Pseudo code
While the player wants to play
Run the game again

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Pre-Test Loops In Python

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1. While
2. For

Characteristics:
1. The stopping condition is checked before the body executes.
2. These types of loops execute zero or more times.

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Post-Loops In Python
• Note:this type of looping construct has not been implemented with
this language (Python).
• But many other languages do implement post test loops.

Characteristics:
 The stopping condition is checked after the body executes.
 These types of loops execute one or more times.

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While Loop in Python
• While loops are called "indefinite loops" because
they keep going until a logical condition becomes
false.

• This
type of loop can be used if it’s not known in
advance how many times that the loop will repeat.

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• Themost powerful type of loop, any other type of
loop can be simulated with a while loop.

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Syntax (while loop) condition = True
while(condition):
while(condition): print(“Hello”)

statement 1
statement 2 condition = True

.
. False

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condition
?
.
True

Display Hello
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Countdown Loop – Example
i = 10
while (i >= 1):
print("i =", i)
i = i – 1 #Sentinel Data
print("Done!")

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Creating a for Loop
• To create a for loop, you start with
 for,
 followed by a variable for each element,
 followed by in,
 followed by the sequence you want to loop through,
 followed by a :, and
 finally, the loop body.

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Syntax:

for variable in sequence :

loop body
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The For Loop – Definite
1) Initialize control 4) Update control

total = 0
for i in range (1, 4, 1):
total = total + i
print("i=", i, "\t total=", total)
print("Done!")

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3) Execute body

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For loop in Python

Example – 1:
Output
for i in range(0,5,1):
???
print(i)

Example – 2:

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for i in Output
range(1,10,2): ???
print(i)
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Counting Down With A For Loop
Output
i = 0 ???
total = 0
for i in range (10, 0, -1):
print(f"{i}")
print("Done!")

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Loop Increments Need Not Be

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Limited To One
• While: while_increment5.py
i = 0
while (i <= 100):
print("i =", i)
i = i + 5
print("Done!")

• For: for_increment5.py
for i in range (0, 105, 5):

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print("i =", i)
print("Done!")

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Sentinel Loops
A sentinel loop continues to process data until
reaching a special value that signals the end.

This special value is called the sentinel.

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The sentinel must be distinguishable from the data
since it is not processed as part of the data.

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Sentinel Loops – Example
Which data is the Sentinel
total = 0 for given loop?
num = 0
while(num >= 0):
num = input ("Enter a non-negative integer:")
num = int(num) If value of n is negative, then
if (num >= 0): loop will break.

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total = total + num
print("Sum total of the series:", total)

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Using else Statement with While

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Loop
Python supports to have an else statement associated
with a loop statement.

If the else statement is used with a while loop, the else

statement is executed when the condition becomes false.

Syntax:

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while expr:
statement(s)
else:
additional_statement(s)

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Using else Statement with While

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Loop - Example
count = 0
while count < 5:
print(count, " is less than 5")
count = count + 1
else:

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print(count, " is not less than 5")

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Nested Loops

In the last chapter we saw how we could nest if

statements. We can also nest loops.

Suppose we change our specification to allow any

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number of numbers on a line in the file (separated
by commas), rather than one per line.

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Nested Loops
• One loop executes inside of another loop(s).
• Example structure:
Outer loop (runs n times)
Inner loop (runs m times)
Body of inner loop (runs n x m times)

• Program name: nested.py

i = 1
while (i <= 2):

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j = 1
while (j <= 3):
print("i = ", i, " j = ", j)
j = j + 1
i = i + 1
print("Done!")
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What is the use of break and

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continue in Python?
break and continue statements can alter the flow of a normal loop

Loops iterate over a block of code until test expression is false, but
sometimes we wish to terminate the current iteration or even the whole
loop without checking test expression

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break and continue statements are used in these cases

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Python break statement
Terminates the loop containing it

Control of the program flows to the statement immediately after the body of the loop.

If break statement is inside a nested loop (loop inside another loop), break will terminate the
innermost loop

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Syntax of break statement

break
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 Flowchart of break

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break- Example
for val in
"string":

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print(val)
break
print(val)
print("The end")

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Continue Statement
Is used to skip the rest of the code
inside a loop for the current iteration
only

Loop does not terminate but

continues with the next iteration

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Syntax of continue Statement
continue

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 Flowchart of continue

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Finishing an Iteration with continue

for val in "string":

print(val)
continue
print(val)
print("The end")

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pass statement
pass is a null statement

The difference between a comment and pass statement in Python is that,

while the interpreter ignores a comment entirely, pass is not ignored

However, nothing happens when pass is executed

It results into no operation (NOP)

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Syntax of pass

pass

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pass - Example
strings = {'p', 'a', 's', 's'}

for val in strings:

pass

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Infinite Loop

Loops must contain within themselves a way to

terminate
• Something inside a while loop must eventually make the condition false

Infinite loop: loop that does not have away of stopping

• Repeats until program is interrupted

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• Occurs when programmer forgets to include stopping code in the loop

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Infinite Loops
• Infinite loops never end (the stopping condition is never met).
• They can be caused by logical errors:
 The loop control is never updated (Example 1 – below).
 The updating of the loop control never brings it closer to the stopping condition (Example 2
– next slide).

• Example 1: infinite1.py
i = 1
while (i <= 10):
print("i = ", i)

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i = i + 1

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Infinite Loops
• Example 2: infinite2.py

i = 10

while (i > 0):

print("i = ", i)

i = i + 1

print("Done!")

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 Exercises:

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More Example: Finding the Average

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in a Loop
sum = 0.0
count = 0
x = eval(input("Enter a number (negative to quit) >> "))
while x >= 0:
sum = sum + x
count = count + 1
x = eval(input("Enter a number (negative to quit) >> "))

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print("\nThe average of the numbers is", sum / count)

An average just combines the counting and sum patterns and divides when
the loop is done.
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More Example – Filter a list
numbers = [4, 23, 32, 12, 88]
for value in numbers:
if value >= 20:
print('Large number', value)
print('Done’)

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Use an if statement in the loop to catch / filter the values we are looking
for.

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Recap: What Looping Constructs Are

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Available In Python/When To Use Them
Construct When To Use

Pre-test loops You want the stopping condition to be checked before the loop body is executed
(typically used when you want a loop to execute zero or more times).

While The most powerful looping construct: you can write a ‘while’ loop to mimic the
behavior of any other type of loop. In general, it should be used when you want a
pre-test loop which can be used for most any arbitrary stopping condition e.g.,
execute the loop as long as the user doesn’t enter a negative number.

For In Python it can be used to step through some sequence

Post-test: None in Python You want to execute the body of the loop before checking the stopping condition

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(typically used to ensure that the body of the loop will execute at least once). The
logic can be simulated with a while loop.

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Summary / Recap of Main Points
• Iterative (loops) structures in python
• While loop as Condition-Controlled Loop and sentinel controlled
• For loop as Count-Controlled and enhanced loop
• Break and continue
• Nested loops
• Infinite loops

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