3.1 for Loops

A for loop is used when you know how many times you want to repeat an action. It’s perfect for counting, working through a list, or repeating a task a fixed number of times.

Real-life example: You check your messages every 5 minutes. That’s a loop — you repeat the same action at regular intervals.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this page, you will:

• Understand when to use a for loop
  
  

• Use range() to control the number of repeats
  
  

• Use break to exit a loop early
  
  

• Use continue to skip a step
  
  

• Write and test your own for loops
  
  

Example 1: Print 0 to 4

for i in range(5):

    print(i)

What it does:

• Runs 5 times
  
  

• Starts at 0
  
  

• Prints: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4
  
  

Try it Yourself

Change the number in range() to 10. What prints?

Using break to Stop the Loop Early

for i in range(10):

    if i == 4:

        break

    print(i)

Output: 0, 1, 2, 3

Using continue to Skip a Step

for i in range(6):

    if i == 3:

        continue

    print(i)

Output: 0, 1, 2, 4, 5