Introduction to:

Computers & Programming:

Loops in Python

Adam Meyers
New York University

Intro to: Computers & Programming:

Loops in Python
V22.0002-001
 Outline
• What is a Loop?
• While Loops
• For Loops
• Examples
• Nested Loops

Intro to: Computers & Programming:

Loops in Python
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 What is a Loop?
• Loops are control structures
– A block of code repeats
– The extent of the repetition is usually limited in some way
• Two kinds of Loops in Python
– while loops
• The evaluation of a boolean expression determines when the repetition stops
• Changes in values of variables lead to different evaluations of the boolean
expression on each repetition
• When the expression is evaluated as False, the loop halts
• If the expression can never evaluate as False, the loop is endless
– for loops
• The length of a sequence determines how many times the body executes
• The loop uses one member of the sequence at a time, until there are no more
members

Intro to: Computers & Programming:

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 An Endless Loop
• Example
def endless_timer ():
import time
now = 0
while (True):
time.sleep(1)
now = now + 1
print(now)

• This loop will keep counting seconds until stopped

with a Control-C

Intro to: Computers & Programming:

Loops in Python
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 What is a while Loop?
• A while loop consists of:
– The word while
– A boolean expression (True on the last slide)
– A colon :
– The body: an indented block of instructions
• The body of the loop repeats
– until the boolean expression is False
• The loop on the previous slide is endless
– because boolean expression is never False.
– Any program can be stopped using Control-C
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 What is a while Loop? 2
• A loop that iterates a limited number of times
def seconds_stop_watch (total_seconds):
import time
now = 0
while (now < total_seconds):
time.sleep(1)
now = now + 1
print(now)

• If we call seconds_stop_watch with 5 as an argument

– The variable now is initialized to 0
– The loop iterates 5 times
– Each time: a second passes, 1 is added to now and now is printed
– In this way, 1 to 5 is printed over 5 seconds
• How many times would a loop beginning while (False): repeat?
Intro to: Computers & Programming:
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 A sample for loop
• This function simulates a 60 second timer
def one_minute_timer ():
print(0)
for second in range(60):
time.sleep(1)
print(second + 1)

• The function prints 0, then enters a for loop

– The loop iterates through a list of numbers from 0 to 59
• The variable second is assigned that number as a value
• The system waits one second
• The system prints second + 1

Intro to: Computers & Programming:

Loops in Python
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 New Material Introduced in the
one_minute_timer function
• The range function
– range takes one or two integers m and n as an arguments
– when m is left out, it is (by default) set to 0
– creates a sequence of numbers from m to n
• A for loop
– The first line – for variable in sequence:
• for and in are keywords
• variable can be any legal variable name
• sequence is an ordered set of items
– Python sequences includes data types like: range, list, string, …
– The body of the loop repeats once for each item in the sequence
– On each iteration, the variable is bound to the next item in the sequence
Intro to: Computers & Programming:
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 Looping Through a String
• Using a for loop
def for_string_loop (string):
for letter in string:
print(letter)
– for-string-loop('Downward')
• Using a while loop
def while_string_loop (string):
position = 0
while(position < len(string))
print(string[position])
position = 1 + position

Intro to: Computers & Programming:

Loops in Python
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 Lengths and elements of Sequences
• The function len returns a sequence's length
– The number of characters – len('Downward')
– The number of integers in a range – len(range(60))
– Etc.
• Elements in a range can be identified by their
position, beginning with 0 and ending in one less
than the length.
– 'Downward'[0], range(5,10)[0]
– 'Downward'[7], range(5,10)[4]
– 'Downward'[8], range(5,10)[5] --- these are errors
Intro to: Computers & Programming:
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 for loops vs. while loops
• With some code modification, it is always
possible to replace a for loop with a while loop,
but not the other way around
• for loops are used for situations where you know
the number of iterations ahead of time
– e.g., looping through sequences
• There is no significant efficiency difference
• The difference relates to ease in which humans
can read/write code

Intro to: Computers & Programming:

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Example: Drawing an asterisk triangle
• def draw_n_asterisks(n):
for current_length in range(n):
print('*',end='')
– print can take a named argument
• End='' indicates what to print at the end of the string
– the character in between the single quotes
• In this case, nothing
• The default is a newline character
• def asterisk_triangle(base_size):
for current_length in range(base_size):
draw_n_asterisks(current_length)
print()
Intro to: Computers & Programming:
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 Drawing an asterisk triangle 2
• Nested Loops – a single function
def asterisk_triangle2(base_size):
for current_length in range(base_size):
for n in range(current_length):
print('*',end='')
print()
• Python indicates depth of nesting via indentation
– Suppose the last line was indented once

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 Printing a Multiplication table
• def multiplication_table (high_num):
for num1 in range(1, 1+high_num):
for num2 in range(1, 1+high_num):
print(num1,'X',num2, '=', num1*num2)
• How does this work?

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 Sample Problem for Class
• Write a function that:
– Takes three arguments:
• base_size
• repetitions
• hour_glass_or_diamond
– This function makes a pattern of asterisks that repeats the number of
times indicates by repetitions
– Each cycle consists of two triangles, one the upside down version of
each other, both of which have a base of size base_size
– If hour_glass_or_diamond is in the 'hour glass' setting, the function
draws an upside down triangle and then a right side up triangle
– If hour_glass_or_diamond is in the 'diamond' setting, the function
draws the right side up triangle first and the upside down one second
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 One Way to Describe a Checkerboard
• A Checkerboard is an 8 X 8 square with alternating
colors, e.g., red and black
• A Checkerboard can be broken down into 4 bars,
each a 2 X 8 bar of alternating colors.
• A 2 X 8 bar of alternating colors can be broken
down into 4 composite squares, each consisting of 2
X 2 small squares.

Intro to: Computers & Programming:

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A Pictoral Description

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 One Way A Turtle Can Draw a
Checkerboard?
• The turtle can draw one square and it could fill
in with a color of our choice
• The turtle can make four such squares next to
each other, forming a composite square.
• It can make four composite squares next to
each other, to form a bar.
• It can make four such bars, one under the other
to form a checkerboard.
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Intro to: Computers & Programming:
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 for_loop_checkerboard.py 1
• Basic setup
– import turtle
– my_screen = turtle.Screen()
– my_screen.setup(0.5,0.75,0,0)
• width, height, startx, starty
– my_turtle = turtle.Turtle(shape='turtle')
• draw_colored_turtle_square
• draw_4_black_and_red
• draw_4_black_and_red_4_times
• make_checkerboard
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 for_loop_checkerboard.py 2
• Setup and then do something 4 times
– Building block
– Move in between blocks
• draw_colored_turtle_square
– Setup: set colors and begin to fill
– Repeated Steps:
• put the pen down, move forward, turn left
– Pick pen up and fill in color
• draw_4_black_and_red
– Setup: initialize fill color and pen color
– Repeated Steps: change fill color,
draw_colored_turtle_square, turn right, move forward
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 for_loop_checkerboard.py 3
• draw_4_black_and_red_4_times
– repeated steps:
• draw_4_black_and_red
• move forward
• make_checkerboard
– Setup: set turtle speed
– Repeated Steps:
• draw_4_black_and_red_4_times
• Turn 180 degrees, move forward, turn 270 degrees,
move forward turn 270 degrees

Intro to: Computers & Programming:

Loops in Python
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 Woops
• While writing the checkerboard program,
several mistakes led me to realize some
interesting artistic possibilities
– make_mistake1 – is the result of drawing bars
with different angles
• This led me to experiment with different
colors, more bars, etc., to make interesting
patterns (wacky_bars, wacky_bars2)

Intro to: Computers & Programming:

Loops in Python
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 About wacky_bars and wacky_bars2
• random.random() – chooses number between 0 and 1
• Colors in the turtle library consist of combinations of red,
green and blue
– Red has a value from 0 to 255
– Green has a value from 0 to 255
– Blue has a value from 0 to 255
– 0,0,0 is black and 255,255,255 is white
• math.ceil(random.random() * 255) – choose a number
between 1 and 255
• 3 such random numbers identifies a random color
Intro to: Computers & Programming:
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 More about wacky_bars
• Let red, green, blue be 3 numbers between 1
and 255
• Applying the following should produce
contrasting colors:
– red == (red - 128) % 255
– green = (green - 128) % 255
– blue = (blue - 128) % 255
• I am unaware of any scientific/artistic
significance to this relation, e.g., these pairs
of colors are not complementary
Intro to: Computers & Programming:
Loops in Python
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 Summary
• Loops provide a way to repeat blocks of instructions
• While loops are the most general
– They require a condition for exiting the loop
• If the condition is never true, the loop is endless
• For loops provide a simple way of repeating a block
– once for each element in a sequence
– or a fixed number of times
• A For loop can always be replaced by an equivalent While loop
• It is often useful to have nested loops (loops within loops)

Intro to: Computers & Programming:

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 Homework
• Finish Reading Chapter 4
• Write function that will make a rectangle consisting of any
character:
– Make_character_rectangle(height, width, char)
• Should make height rows of width instances of char
• Write a function that makes a parallelogram of characters in a
similar way
– Make_character_parallelogram(height, width, char, spaces)
• spaces is the total number of spaces on each line (before and
after the line of characters)
• Write a timer that prints out every one tenth of a second
– It should use the format: Hours:Minutes:Seconds.fraction
– For example, 00:00:00.0, 00:00:00.1, 00:00:00.2, etc.
Intro to: Computers & Programming:
Loops in Python
V22.0002-001