The Coder's Apprentice


Computers do not get bored. If you want the computer to repeat a certain task hundreds of thousands of times, it does not protest. Humans hate too much repetition. Therefore, repetitious tasks should be performed by computers. All programming languages support repetitions. The general class of programming constructs that allow the definition of repetitions are called “iterations.” A term which is even more common for such tasks is “loops.”

This chapter explains all you need to know about loops in Python. Students who are completely new to programming often find loops the first really hard topic in programming that they encounter. If that is the case for you, then make sure you take your time for this chapter, and work on it until you understand it completely. Loops are such a basic concept in programming that you need to understand them in all their details. Each and every chapter after this one needs loops.