Python for Informatics
LESSON 3
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Iteration
2
“The wheel has come full circle.”
— William Shakespeare
• In our previous two lessons, we looked at variables and
data types, and learned how these can be used to perform
simple computations.
• While storing a value in a variable is useful since it allows
us to come back to that variable and retrieve that value at
a latter time, it is the updating of a variable—the
changing of its value—that yields the full power of a
variable.
• It is through the varying of their values that
variables fully realize themselves.
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Iteration
3
Because the updating of variables is such a common
yet powerful activity, there are idiomatic syntactic
structures that facillitate it.
Assignment operations are paired with other
operations.
x=0
x=x+1
print(x)
1
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Iteration
4
x = x + 1 is a simple way of incrementing
the value of x.
The syntax can be simplified even further,
by employing a short-hand notation:
x += 1
Because this short-hand version requires
less typing, it is generally preferred.
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Iteration
5
Our other binary operators follow suit:
x -= 1
x *= 1
x /= 1
x %= 1
The right operand doesn’t need to be 1.
x += 5
x += y
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Iteration
6
The ability to update a variable with a new value
is powerful.
While updating a variable once is powerful,
updating a variable multiple times is especially
powerful.
Imagine performing a mind-numbingly tedious
task. Doing it once is bad, twice… cruel, thrice…
maddening,… a thousand times!...
These are circumstances for which the massive
number-crunching power of our computers
brilliantly shines.
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Iteration
7
Try this…
n=0
while n < 1000:
n += 1
print('done!')
Now, try it again, but instead of 1,000 make it
10,000 (don’t forget to reset n to zero).
Continue to add an extra zero until you finally
notice a time delay.
On my computer, I finally notice a slight delay with
a value of 1,000,000. It isn’t until 10,000,000 that
the delay is significant!
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Iteration
8
Let us look at the general syntax:
while conditional_expression:
update_control_variable
The conditional_expression is an expression that evaluates to either
True or False.
If the conditional_expression evaluates to True, then the body of the while is
executed, and the program flow loops back to the top of the while statement.
The conditional_expression will be evaluated again, and the body will
be executed again if the conditional_expression evaluates to True.
This process of evaluation/execution will repeat or iterate until such time that the
conditional_expression evaluates to False.
When the conditional_expression evaluates to False, the body will
be skipped, and the program flow will drop down and continue past
the while statement.
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Iteration
9
Here is a flow chart visualization of the while loop:
yes
cond_exp body
no
Each execution of the loop is called an iteration.
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Iteration
10
Consider this:
m=0
n = 1000
while n > 0:
m -= 1
Under what condition would this loop stop iterating?
The control variable n is not modified in any way that would allow the
loop to stop iterating.
A loop that never stops iterating like this is called an infinite loop.
Go ahead and try this code. You’ll need to either restart the Kernel, or
restart Canopy.
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Iteration
11
Sometimes an infinite loop can serve as a convenience, when you don’t know
exactly how many iterations you want your loop to make.
An infinite loop combined with a break statement can be an elegant
solution:
while True:
line = raw_input('> ')
if line == 'Ni!':
break
print line
print('Oh, what sad times are these when passing
ruffians can say Ni at will to old ladies.')
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Iteration
12
Note, however, that this code could be written to not rely upon a break
statement.
line = ''
while line != 'Ni!':
print line
line = raw_input('> ')
print('Oh, what sad times are these when passing
ruffians can say Ni at will to old ladies.')
As a general rule, you should be sparing in the use of break statements.
break statements force your code to skip and jump in a manner that can be
confusing and error prone.
If at all, only consider using breaks when the code is clear and well-contained.
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Iteration
13
The continue statement is another way of redirecting program flow within a
loop.
With continue, the program flow stays within the loop, but skips any
remaining statements between the continue statement and the end of the
loop.
Whereas break forces an exit from the loop, the continue forces skipping to
the next iteration of the loop.
while True:
line = raw_input('> ')
if line[0] == '#':
continue
if line == 'done':
break
print line
print 'Done'
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Definite vs. Indefinite Loops
14
The while loop is an example of an indefinite loop.
The number of iterations performed by a while loop
depends upon a condition (the evaluation of a boolean
True/False expression).
The while loop is indefinite because we cannot know a
priori how many times the loop will iterate.
The for loop is an example of a definite loop.
The for loop is used to iterate through an entire set of
items.
If you need to process each item within a set, the
for loop is preferred, as it precludes the possibility of
erroneously skipping any item within the set.
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Iteration
15
Here’s an example of the for loop at work:
comedians = ['Graham Chapman', 'John Cleese',
'Terry Gilliam', 'Eric Idle', 'Terry Jones',
'Michael Palin']
for comedian in comedians:
print(comedian + ' is hilarious! ‘)
print('A flying circus!')
Graham Chapman is hilarious!
John Cleese is hilarious!
Terry Gilliam is hilarious!
Eric Idle is hilarious!
Terry Jones is hilarious!
Michael Palin is hilarious!
A flying circus!
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Iteration
16
Note that comedian is the iteration variable within the
loop.
comedians = ['Graham Chapman', 'John Cleese',
'Terry Gilliam', 'Eric Idle', 'Terry Jones',
'Michael Palin']
for comedian in comedians:
print(comedian + ' is hilarious! ‘)
print('A flying circus!')
The value of comedian is guaranteed to be that of each
successive item with the set being iterated over.
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Common Looping Practices
17
Common steps or operations that are
typically performed as part of a loop
construct include:
Initializing one or more variables before the loop begins.
Performing an operation or computation upon each item
within the loop body, and perhaps modifying variables.
Making use of the resulting values of your variables, after
completion of the loop.
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Canonical Loop Forms
18
Here’s a loop that counts the number of
items in a list:
count = 0
for cur_num in [5, 82, 35, 8, 27, 19]:
count += 1
print('The number of items is ' + count)
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Canonical Loop Forms
19
Here’s a loop that totals the number of items
in a list:
total = 0
for cur_num in [5, 82, 35, 8, 27, 19]:
total += cur_num
print('The total is ' + total)
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Canonical Loop Forms
20
Here’s a loop that finds the largest value
within a list:
maximum = None
for cur_num in [5, 82, 35, 8, 27, 19]:
if maximum is None or cur_num > maximum :
maximum = cur_num
print('The maximum value is ' + str(maximum))
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Canonical Loop Forms
21
Here’s a loop that finds the smallest value
within a list:
minimum = None
for cur_num in [5, 82, 35, 8, 27, 19]:
if minimum is None or cur_num < minimum :
minimum = cur_num
print('The minimum value is ' + str(minimum))
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Canonical Loop Forms
22
Here’s a loop that finds the smallest value
within a list:
minimum = None
for cur_num in [5, 82, 35, 8, 27, 19]:
if minimum is None or cur_num < minimum :
minimum = cur_num
print('The minimum value is ' + str(minimum))
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Canonical Loop Forms
23
The previous loop examples demonstrate typical forms of
applying loop-based operations.
With the exception of the total counting example, you
would not need to use those code snippets, because there
are built-in functions that already perform the same task:
sum([5, 82, 35, 8, 27, 19])
176
max([5, 82, 35, 8, 27, 19])
82
min([5, 82, 35, 8, 27, 19])
5
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Strings
24
A String is a sequence of characters.
Imagine a series of beads with a character carved into each
one. By sliding them onto a string, you create a necklace.
H e l l o w o r l d !
Syntactically, each character can be referenced by means of
an integer index value.
H e l l o w o r l d !
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
greeting = 'Hello world!'
print(greeting[6])
w
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Strings
25
The built-in len function, allows us to get the length of any
given string.
H e l l o w o r l d !
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
greeting = 'Hello world!'
print(len(greeting))
12
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Strings
26
Note that the last character in a string is always at the
position of len(…) – 1.
H e l l o w o r l d !
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
greeting = 'Hello world!'
print(greeting[len(greeting) - 1])
!
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Strings
27
Referring to a position that is beyond the end of the string
results in an IndexError.
H e l l o w o r l d !
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
greeting = 'Hello world!'
print(greeting[len(greeting)])
IndexError: string index out of range
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Strings
28
Just as with any kind of sequence, it is often useful to process
a string one item (i.e. character) at a time.
0 e1
H 2l 3l o4 5 6
w o7 8r 9l 10
d 11
!
greeting = 'Hello world!'
index = 0
while index < len(greeting) :
letter = greeting[index]
print(letter)
index += 1
H
e
l
l
o
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
!
Strings
29
A slice is a substring denoted by s[n:m], where for string
s, a string of characters is returned beginning at position n
and extending up to but not including position m.
P y t h o n e s q u e
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
word = 'Pythonesque'
print(word[0:6])
Python
print(word[4:7])
one
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Strings
30
Strings are immutable! Therefore, as much as you might
want to, you cannot change them.
You can, however, create new strings.
Incorrect – attempting to modify an existing string…
word = 'Pythonesque'
word[0] = 'M'
TypeError: 'str' object does not support item assignment
Correct – creating a new string…
word = 'M' + word[1:11]
print(word)
Mythonesque
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Strings
31
Counting across a string. Here’s an example of performing
a count of the number of ‘e’s in a string.
P y t h o n e s q u e
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
word = 'Pythonesque'
count = 0
for letter in word :
if letter == 'e' :
count += 1
print('There are ' + str(count) + ' \'e\'s ' + 'in the word. ')
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Strings
32
The in operator takes two string operands and returns true
if the left string is found as a substring within the right
operand.
P y t h o n e s q u e
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
word = 'Pythonesque'
'on' in word
True
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Strings
33
The comparison operators allow us to compare two strings.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
P y t h o n e s q u e
if word == 'Pythonesque' :
print('Ni!' )
Ni!
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Strings
34
The comparison operators allow us to compare two strings.
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
P y t h o n e s q u e
word > 'Python'
True
'King Arthur' < word
True
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Strings
35
In Python, all uppercase characters are lexigraphically less
than (or to the left of) all lowercase characters.
'Zymurgy' < 'aardvark'
True
To account for this we can convert to a common format by
using the lower() or upper() string functions.
'Zymurgy'.lower() < 'aardvark'.lower()
False
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Strings
36
Python strings are actually objects.
An object is a binding together of data and
executable code.
The idea is to keep data and the functions that
operate upon that data close together.
The binding of data and functions (or behavior) is
accomplished by means of encapsulation.
Encapsulation effectively creates a skin around
the data and its related functions—this is what
grants objects their objectness.
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Strings
37
The functions that belong to objects are called
methods.
The term method comes from the classical
perspective of object-oriented programming
wherein objects are said to send messages to
each other.
When an object receives a message, the
method is the way that it responds to that
given message.
By the way, in Python everything is actually
an object—even ints and floats are objects!
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Strings
38
By using the type function, we can determine what
type or class of object we have.
s = 'aardvark'
type(s)
str
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Strings
39
The dir function lists the methods that belong to
an object.
dir(s)
['__add__',
…
'capitalize',
…
'format',
…
'zfill']
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Strings
40
Seeing that capitalize() is a string method, we can
learn more about it by asking for help.
help(str.capitalize)
Help on method_descriptor:
capitalize(...)
S.capitalize() -> string
Return a copy of the string S with only its first
character capitalized.
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Strings
41
To see how it works, we can call or invoke it.
s.capitalize()
'Aardvark'
Note that objects are invoked by putting a dot after
the object reference, and then specifying the
method name.
This syntactic use of a dot to invoke a method is
called dot notation.
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Strings
42
Now let’s invoke the find() method.
s = 'shrubbery'
s.find('r')
2
s.find('r', 3)
7
s.find('er', 2)
6
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Strings
43
An important “clean-up” method is strip().
s=' shrubbery '
s = s.strip()
print(s[0:5])
shrub
rstrip() is a similar method, but it only strips at the end,
and it lets you specify a non-whitespace character to strip
out.
s = '*****shrubbery*****'
s = s.rstrip('*')
print(s)
*****shrubbery
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Strings
44
startswith() is also a convenient method.
s = 'dead parrot'
s.startswith('dead')
True
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Strings
45
We often use a series of operations to parse data.
s = 'http://www.stpacossecondchancedogrescue.org/user/login'
start_pos = s.find('://') + 3
end_pos = s.find('/', start_pos)
home_page = s[start_pos : end_pos]
print(home_page)
www.stpacossecondchancedogrescue.org
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Strings
46
Note that by refactoring our code, we can make it
clearer and more reusable.
target_start_str = '://'
target_end_str = '/'
s = 'http://www.stpacossecondchancedogrescue.org/user/login'
start_pos = s.find(target_start_str) + len(target_start_str)
end_pos = s.find(target_end_str, start_pos)
home_page = s[start_pos : end_pos]
print(home_page)
www.stpacossecondchancedogrescue.org
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Strings
47
The format operator, %, allows us to construct formatted strings by
means of string interpolation.
s = '%s. Go on. Off you go.' \
% (raw_input('What... is your favourite colour? '))
print(s)
The format operator has two operands, where the first is the string that
contains one or more format sequences.
Each format sequence is a place holder for the string being constructed.
The second operand is a tuple (comma delimited value sequence)
containing the values that will be inserted into the successive place
holders.
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
Strings
48
The various format sequences are based upon the type of value they are
holding a place for.
The format sequences for decimal, floating point, and string are,
respectively:
%d
%g
%s
Copyright © 2015 Walter Wesley All Rights Reserved
