Loops are one of the most powerful tools in Python. They let you repeat blocks of code without writing them out multiple times. You’ll typically use:

• for loops — when you want to go through items in a sequence (like a list or range)
• while loops — when you want to repeat something until a condition is no longer true

You can also use break to stop a loop early or continue to skip just one iteration. And always make sure your while loop eventually stops — or you’ll be stuck in an infinite loop!

For and While in Action

Let’s see both types of loops in action:

# A for-loop that skips 4 and stops before 6
for i in range(1, 7):
    if i == 4:
        continue   # skip number 4
    if i == 6:
        break      # stop when i hits 6 (won’t print 6)
    print(i)

# A while-loop countdown
count = 5
while count > 0:
    print("T-minus", count)
    count -= 1

print("Lift-off!")

Common Loop Patterns

Want to loop through a set of numbers? Use range(start, stop, step).

Want to filter certain values? Use continue to skip them cleanly.

# Collect only the odd numbers from 1 to 10
odds = []
for n in range(1, 11):
    if n % 2 == 0:
        continue   # skip even numbers
    odds.append(n)

print(odds)  # [1, 3, 5, 7, 9]

Interactive Exercise: Countdown with Skip

Let’s build a countdown, but skip one specific number. Change the start and skip values to see how the output changes.

Loops are all about repetition and control. With for, while, break, and continue, you’ll be able to handle all kinds of tasks — from countdowns to data filtering and more.