Explanation of iteration and loop control flow

Hello young programmers!

Today, we’re going to embark on a fun journey into the world of iteration and loop control flow in Python. Imagine you have a magic wand that can make your computer do things over and over again until you say stop. Well, that’s exactly what loops in programming do!

What is Iteration?

Think of iteration as doing something repeatedly. It’s like when you brush your teeth every morning or tie your shoelaces. In programming, iteration allows us to repeat a set of instructions multiple times.

Types of Loops in Python:

In Python, we have two main types of loops: for loop and while loop.

1. for loop: It’s like counting numbers. You start at one number and go up to another. Let’s see how it works with a simple example:

for number in range(5):  # This loop will run 5 times
    print("Current number is:", number)

Output:

Current number is: 0
Current number is: 1
Current number is: 2
Current number is: 3
Current number is: 4

2. while loop: It’s like a promise to keep doing something until you’re told to stop. Imagine you’re playing a game and you want to keep playing until it’s bedtime. Here’s how it looks in code:

count = 0
while count < 5:  # This loop will keep running until count is less than 5
    print("Count is:", count)
    count += 1

Output:

Count is: 0
Count is: 1
Count is: 2
Count is: 3
Count is: 4

Practice Questions:

1. Write a for loop to print even numbers from 2 to 10.
2. Create a while loop that counts down from 5 to 1 and prints each number.

Solutions:

1. Even Numbers with for Loop:

for num in range(2, 11, 2):  # Start from 2, end at 10, step by 2
    print(num)

Output:

2
4
6
8
10

2. Countdown with while Loop:

count = 5
while count > 0:
    print(count)
    count -= 1

Output:

5
4
3
2
1

Great job! You’ve just learned the basics of iteration and loop control flow in Python. Keep practicing, and soon you’ll be able to make your computer do all sorts of amazing things! 🚀