For-Loops in Python

In all of the Python programs we've seen so far, the computer executes the commands one line at a time, from top to bottom. However, most programming languages contain several powerful features that can change the flow of the program. These statements that alter the flow of a program are called control flow statements. One such control flow statement is the ability to iterate--to repeat parts of the code.

Python uses a for-loop to repeat the same block of code a set number of times. Below is a for-loop that repeats three print statements five times (and then prints Bye exactly once):

for i in range(5):
  print("Data")
  print("Science")
  print("DISCOVERY")
print("Bye")

There are a few features to notice:

• The line of code with the for statement ends in a colon (:). This colon indicates that the next block of code should be repeated a number of times.
• The number of times the for-loop repeats in indicated in what appears after the in statement. In the code above, range(5) runs the code inside of the for-loop five times.
• The block of code following the for statement is indented. This indentation defines the block of code that should run multiple times and we refer to this code as being "inside" of the for-loop.
• The code after the for-loop, back at the original indentation, will only run after the for-loop finishes running.

for i in range(5):
  print("Data")
  print("Science")
  print("DISCOVERY")
print("Bye")

Data
Science
DISCOVERY
Data
Science
DISCOVERY
Data
Science
DISCOVERY
Data
Science
DISCOVERY
Data
Science
DISCOVERY
Bye

Application of for-loops: Simulation

A simple and widely used application is to re-run a simulation multiple times and these for-loops nearly always use for i in range(17) (where 17 is replaced with the number of times our simulation runs).

• range(17) is shorthand for listing out a long sequence of numbers starting with zero and going to one less than the end of the range -- [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16] -- that will be "looped through" by the for-loop.
• The variable i will take on each of these each time it goes through the loop. Even if we never use i, it's still required syntax in our for-loop.

Example: Printing i in a for-loop

# Notice the use of `range(17)` to run this code 17 times:
for i in range(17):
  print(i)

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

Simulation Example: Repeating Rolling a Die

When we discussed generating Random Numbers in Python, we explored generating 100 rolls of a six-sided die. Now we can do this in just two lines of code:

# Notice the use of `range(100)` to run this code 100 times:
for i in range(100):
  print(random.randint(1, 6))

1
4
3
6
6
3
3
3
5
3
5
4
6
2
4
3
2
5
4
1
6
3
4
1
3
2
4
1
6
6
3
6
2
4
2
3
3
1
3
1
3
3
5
2
4
2
3
5
5
5
5
2
4
1
1
1
2
6
6
1
6
3
5
4
1
2
5
1
4
1
5
5
3
3
2
4
4
5
2
5
2
6
3
6
5
2
5
2
5
1
6
5
3
3
2
5
5
4
2
2

Simulation Example: Drawing 10 Cards (with replacement)

# Notice the use of `range(10)` to run this code 10 times:
for i in range(10):
  rank = random.choice( ["2", "3", "4", "5", "6", "7", "8", "9", "10", "J", "Q", "K", "A"] )
  suit = random.choice( ["Club", "Heart", "Diamond", "Spade"] )
  print(f"{rank} of {suit}s")

5 of Hearts
2 of Diamonds
A of Spades
3 of Spades
J of Clubs
8 of Spades
2 of Hearts
10 of Diamonds
A of Clubs
K of Clubs

Application of for-loops: Iteration

The other major common application of a for-loop is to iterate through a list. This can be done using a Python list, such as the lists we use in random.choice. Instead of using i, the variable used between for and in should be descriptive of the data that it will contain. If we are looping through a list of suits of cards, the variable suit makes a lot of sense.

Iteration Example: Python List of Card Suits

# Notice the variable `suit` and the list of all suits:
for suit in ["Club", "Heart", "Diamond", "Spade"]:
  print(suit)

Club
Heart
Diamond
Spade

Iteration Example: Python List of Primary and Secondary Colors

# Notice the variable `color` and the list of primary and secondary:
for color in ["Red", "Yellow", "Blue", "Orange", "Green", "Violet"]:
  print(color)

Red
Yellow
Blue
Orange
Green
Violet

Example Walk-Throughs with Worksheets

Video 1: Examples of "for" Loops in Python

Practice Questions