Control Flow

1. if Statements

>>>
>>> x = int(input("Please enter an integer: "))
Please enter an integer: 42
>>> if x < 0:
... x = 0
... print('Negative changed to zero')
... elif x == 0:
... print('Zero')
... elif x == 1:
... print('Single')
... else:
... print('More')
...
More

There can be zero or more elif parts, and the else part is optional. The keyword
‘elif’ is short for ‘else if’, and is useful to avoid excessive indentation.
An if … elif … elif … sequence is a substitute for
the switch or case statements found in other languages.

2. for Statements
The for statement in Python differs a bit from what you may be used to in C or Pascal.
Rather than always iterating over an arithmetic progression of numbers (like in
Pascal), or giving the user the ability to define both the iteration step and halting
condition (as C), Python’s for statement iterates over the items of any sequence (a
list or a string), in the order that they appear in the sequence. For example (no pun
intended):

>>>
>>> # Measure some strings:
... words = ['cat', 'window', 'defenestrate']
>>> for w in words:
... print(w, len(w))
...
cat 3
window 6
defenestrate 12
3. The range() Function
If you do need to iterate over a sequence of numbers, the built-in
function range() comes in handy. It generates arithmetic progressions:

>>>
>>> for i in range(5):
... print(i)
...
0
1
2
3
4

The given end point is never part of the generated sequence; range(10) generates
10 values, the legal indices for items of a sequence of length 10. It is possible to let
the range start at another number, or to specify a different increment (even negative;
sometimes this is called the ‘step’):

range(5, 10)
5, 6, 7, 8, 9

range(0, 10, 3)
0, 3, 6, 9

range(-10, -100, -30)

-10, -40, -70

To iterate over the indices of a sequence, you can combine range() and len() as
follows:

>>>
>>> a = ['Mary', 'had', 'a', 'little', 'lamb']
>>> for i in range(len(a)):
... print(i, a[i])
...
0 Mary
1 had
2 a
3 little
4 lamb

In most such cases, however, it is convenient to use the enumerate() function,

see Looping Techniques.
A strange thing happens if you just print a range:

>>>
>>> print(range(10))
range(0, 10)

In many ways the object returned by range() behaves as if it is a list, but in fact it
isn’t. It is an object which returns the successive items of the desired sequence when
you iterate over it, but it doesn’t really make the list, thus saving space.

We say such an object is iterable, that is, suitable as a target for functions and
constructs that expect something from which they can obtain successive items until
the supply is exhausted. We have seen that the for statement is such a construct,
while an example of a function that takes an iterable is sum():

>>>
>>> sum(range(4)) # 0 + 1 + 2 + 3
6

Later we will see more functions that return iterables and take iterables as arguments.
Lastly, maybe you are curious about how to get a list from a range. Here is the solution:

>>>
>>> list(range(4))
[0, 1, 2, 3]

In chapter Data Structures, we will discuss in more detail about list().

4. break and continue Statements,

and else Clauses on Loops
The break statement, like in C, breaks out of the innermost
enclosing for or while loop.

Loop statements may have an else clause; it is executed when the loop terminates
through exhaustion of the iterable (with for) or when the condition becomes false
(with while), but not when the loop is terminated by a break statement. This is
exemplified by the following loop, which searches for prime numbers:
>>>
>>> for n in range(2, 10):
... for x in range(2, n):
... if n % x == 0:
... print(n, 'equals', x, '*', n//x)
... break
... else:
... # loop fell through without finding a factor
... print(n, 'is a prime number')
...
2 is a prime number
3 is a prime number
4 equals 2 * 2
5 is a prime number
6 equals 2 * 3
7 is a prime number
8 equals 2 * 4
9 equals 3 * 3

(Yes, this is the correct code. Look closely: the else clause belongs to
the for loop, not the if statement.)

The continue statement, also borrowed from C, continues with the next iteration of
the loop:

>>>
>>> for num in range(2, 10):
... if num % 2 == 0:
... print("Found an even number", num)
... continue
... print("Found a number", num)
Found an even number 2
Found a number 3
Found an even number 4
Found a number 5
Found an even number 6
Found a number 7
Found an even number 8
Found a number 9
5. pass Statements
The pass statement does nothing. It can be used when a statement is required
syntactically but the program requires no action. For example:

>>>
>>> while True:
... pass # Busy-wait for keyboard interrupt (Ctrl+C)
...

This is commonly used for creating minimal classes:

>>>
>>> class MyEmptyClass:
... pass
...

Another place pass can be used is as a place-holder for a function or conditional body
when you are working on new code, allowing you to keep thinking at a more abstract
level. The pass is silently ignored:

>>>
>>> def initlog(*args):
... pass # Remember to implement this!
...

6. Defining Functions
We can create a function that writes the Fibonacci series to an arbitrary boundary:

>>>
>>> def fib(n): # write Fibonacci series up to n
... """Print a Fibonacci series up to n."""
... a, b = 0, 1
... while a < n:
... print(a, end=' ')
... a, b = b, a+b
... print()
...
>>> # Now call the function we just defined:
... fib(2000)
0 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89 144 233 377 610 987 1597
The keyword def introduces a function definition. It must be followed by the function
name and the parenthesized list of formal parameters. The statements that form the
body of the function start at the next line, and must be indented.

The first statement of the function body can optionally be a string literal; this string
literal is the function’s documentation string, or docstring. (More about docstrings can
be found in the section Documentation Strings.) There are tools which use docstrings
to automatically produce online or printed documentation, or to let the user
interactively browse through code; it’s good practice to include docstrings in code that
you write, so make a habit of it.

The execution of a function introduces a new symbol table used for the local variables
of the function. More precisely, all variable assignments in a function store the value
in the local symbol table; whereas variable references first look in the local symbol
table, then in the local symbol tables of enclosing functions, then in the global symbol
table, and finally in the table of built-in names. Thus, global variables and variables of
enclosing functions cannot be directly assigned a value within a function (unless, for
global variables, named in a global statement, or, for variables of enclosing
functions, named in a nonlocal statement), although they may be referenced.

The actual parameters (arguments) to a function call are introduced in the local symbol
table of the called function when it is called; thus, arguments are passed using call by
value (where the value is always an object reference, not the value of the
object). 1 When a function calls another function, a new local symbol table is created
for that call.

A function definition associates the function name with the function object in the
current symbol table. The interpreter recognizes the object pointed to by that name as
a user-defined function. Other names can also point to that same function object and
can also be used to access the function:

>>>
>>> fib
<function fib at 10042ed0>
>>> f = fib
>>> f(100)
0 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89

Coming from other languages, you might object that fib is not a function but a
procedure since it doesn’t return a value. In fact, even functions without
a return statement do return a value, albeit a rather boring one. This value is
called None (it’s a built-in name). Writing the value None is normally suppressed by
the interpreter if it would be the only value written. You can see it if you really want to
using print():

>>>
>>> fib(0)
>>> print(fib(0))
None

It is simple to write a function that returns a list of the numbers of the Fibonacci series,
instead of printing it:

>>>
>>> def fib2(n): # return Fibonacci series up to n
... """Return a list containing the Fibonacci series up to
n."""
... result = []
... a, b = 0, 1
... while a < n:
... result.append(a) # see below
... a, b = b, a+b
... return result
...
>>> f100 = fib2(100) # call it
>>> f100 # write the result
[0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89]

This example, as usual, demonstrates some new Python features:

• The return statement returns with a value from a function. return without an
expression argument returns None. Falling off the end of a function also
returns None.
• The statement result.append(a) calls a method of the list object result. A
method is a function that ‘belongs’ to an object and is
named obj.methodname, where obj is some object (this may be an
expression), and methodname is the name of a method that is defined by the
object’s type. Different types define different methods. Methods of different
types may have the same name without causing ambiguity. (It is possible to
define your own object types and methods, using classes, see Classes) The
method append() shown in the example is defined for list objects; it adds a
new element at the end of the list. In this example it is equivalent
to result = result + [a], but more efficient.
7. More on Defining Functions
It is also possible to define functions with a variable number of arguments. There are
three forms, which can be combined.

4.7.1. Default Argument Values

The most useful form is to specify a default value for one or more arguments. This
creates a function that can be called with fewer arguments than it is defined to allow.
For example:

def ask_ok(prompt, retries=4, reminder='Please try again!'):

while True:
ok = input(prompt)
if ok in ('y', 'ye', 'yes'):
return True
if ok in ('n', 'no', 'nop', 'nope'):
return False
retries = retries - 1
if retries < 0:
raise ValueError('invalid user response')
print(reminder)

This function can be called in several ways:

• giving only the mandatory

argument: ask_ok('Do you really want to quit?')
• giving one of the optional
arguments: ask_ok('OK to overwrite the file?', 2)
• or even giving all
arguments: ask_ok('OK to overwrite the file?', 2, 'Come on, o
nly yes or no!')

This example also introduces the in keyword. This tests whether or not a sequence
contains a certain value.

The default values are evaluated at the point of function definition in

the defining scope, so that

i = 5

def f(arg=i):
print(arg)
i = 6
f()

will print 5.

Important warning: The default value is evaluated only once. This makes a difference
when the default is a mutable object such as a list, dictionary, or instances of most
classes. For example, the following function accumulates the arguments passed to it
on subsequent calls:

def f(a, L=[]):

L.append(a)
return L

print(f(1))
print(f(2))
print(f(3))

This will print

[1]
[1, 2]
[1, 2, 3]

If you don’t want the default to be shared between subsequent calls, you can write the
function like this instead:

def f(a, L=None):

if L is None:
L = []
L.append(a)
return L

4.7.2. Keyword Arguments

Functions can also be called using keyword arguments of the form kwarg=value. For
instance, the following function:

def parrot(voltage, state='a stiff', action='voom',

type='Norwegian Blue'):
print("-- This parrot wouldn't", action, end=' ')
print("if you put", voltage, "volts through it.")
print("-- Lovely plumage, the", type)
print("-- It's", state, "!")
accepts one required argument (voltage) and three optional arguments
(state, action, and type). This function can be called in any of the following ways:

parrot(1000) # 1
positional argument
parrot(voltage=1000) # 1 keyword
argument
parrot(voltage=1000000, action='VOOOOOM') # 2 keyword
arguments
parrot(action='VOOOOOM', voltage=1000000) # 2 keyword
arguments
parrot('a million', 'bereft of life', 'jump') # 3
positional arguments
parrot('a thousand', state='pushing up the daisies') # 1
positional, 1 keyword

but all the following calls would be invalid:

parrot() # required argument missing

parrot(voltage=5.0, 'dead') # non-keyword argument after a
keyword argument
parrot(110, voltage=220) # duplicate value for the same
argument
parrot(actor='John Cleese') # unknown keyword argument

In a function call, keyword arguments must follow positional arguments. All the
keyword arguments passed must match one of the arguments accepted by the
function (e.g. actor is not a valid argument for the parrot function), and their order
is not important. This also includes non-optional arguments
(e.g. parrot(voltage=1000) is valid too). No argument may receive a value more
than once. Here’s an example that fails due to this restriction:

>>>
>>> def function(a):
... pass
...
>>> function(0, a=0)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
TypeError: function() got multiple values for keyword argument
'a'

When a final formal parameter of the form **name is present, it receives a dictionary
(see Mapping Types — dict) containing all keyword arguments except for those
corresponding to a formal parameter. This may be combined with a formal parameter
of the form *name (described in the next subsection) which receives a tuple containing
the positional arguments beyond the formal parameter list. (*name must occur
before **name.) For example, if we define a function like this:

def cheeseshop(kind, *arguments, **keywords):

print("-- Do you have any", kind, "?")
print("-- I'm sorry, we're all out of", kind)
for arg in arguments:
print(arg)
print("-" * 40)
for kw in keywords:
print(kw, ":", keywords[kw])

It could be called like this:

cheeseshop("Limburger", "It's very runny, sir.",

"It's really very, VERY runny, sir.",
shopkeeper="Michael Palin",
client="John Cleese",
sketch="Cheese Shop Sketch")

and of course it would print:

-- Do you have any Limburger ?

-- I'm sorry, we're all out of Limburger
It's very runny, sir.
It's really very, VERY runny, sir.
----------------------------------------
shopkeeper : Michael Palin
client : John Cleese
sketch : Cheese Shop Sketch

Note that the order in which the keyword arguments are printed is guaranteed to match
the order in which they were provided in the function call.

4.7.3. Special parameters

By default, arguments may be passed to a Python function either by position or
explicitly by keyword. For readability and performance, it makes sense to restrict the
way arguments can be passed so that a developer need only look at the function
definition to determine if items are passed by position, by position or keyword, or by
keyword.

A function definition may look like:

def f(pos1, pos2, /, pos_or_kwd, *, kwd1, kwd2):
----------- ---------- ----------
| | |
| Positional or keyword |
| - Keyword only
-- Positional only

where / and * are optional. If used, these symbols indicate the kind of parameter by
how the arguments may be passed to the function: positional-only, positional-or-
keyword, and keyword-only. Keyword parameters are also referred to as named
parameters.

4.7.3.1. Positional-or-Keyword Arguments

If / and * are not present in the function definition, arguments may be passed to a
function by position or by keyword.

4.7.3.2. Positional-Only Parameters

Looking at this in a bit more detail, it is possible to mark certain parameters

as positional-only. If positional-only, the parameters’ order matters, and the
parameters cannot be passed by keyword. Positional-only parameters are placed
before a / (forward-slash). The / is used to logically separate the positional-only
parameters from the rest of the parameters. If there is no / in the function definition,
there are no positional-only parameters.

Parameters following the / may be positional-or-keyword or keyword-only.

4.7.3.3. Keyword-Only Arguments

To mark parameters as keyword-only, indicating the parameters must be passed by

keyword argument, place an * in the arguments list just before the first keyword-
only parameter.

4.7.3.4. Function Examples

Consider the following example function definitions paying close attention to the
markers / and *:

>>>
>>> def standard_arg(arg):
... print(arg)
...
>>> def pos_only_arg(arg, /):
... print(arg)
...
>>> def kwd_only_arg(*, arg):
... print(arg)
...
>>> def combined_example(pos_only, /, standard, *, kwd_only):
... print(pos_only, standard, kwd_only)

The first function definition, standard_arg, the most familiar form, places no
restrictions on the calling convention and arguments may be passed by position or
keyword:

>>>
>>> standard_arg(2)
2

>>> standard_arg(arg=2)
2

The second function pos_only_arg is restricted to only use positional parameters as

there is a / in the function definition:

>>>
>>> pos_only_arg(1)
1

>>> pos_only_arg(arg=1)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
TypeError: pos_only_arg() got an unexpected keyword argument
'arg'

The third function kwd_only_args only allows keyword arguments as indicated by

a * in the function definition:

>>>
>>> kwd_only_arg(3)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
TypeError: kwd_only_arg() takes 0 positional arguments but 1 was
given

>>> kwd_only_arg(arg=3)
3
And the last uses all three calling conventions in the same function definition:

>>>
>>> combined_example(1, 2, 3)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
TypeError: combined_example() takes 2 positional arguments but 3
were given

>>> combined_example(1, 2, kwd_only=3)

1 2 3

>>> combined_example(1, standard=2, kwd_only=3)

1 2 3

>>> combined_example(pos_only=1, standard=2, kwd_only=3)

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
TypeError: combined_example() got an unexpected keyword argument
'pos_only'

Finally, consider this function definition which has a potential collision between the
positional argument name and **kwds which has name as a key:

def foo(name, **kwds):

return 'name' in kwds

There is no possible call that will make it return True as the keyword 'name' will
always bind to the first parameter. For example:

>>>
>>> foo(1, **{'name': 2})
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
TypeError: foo() got multiple values for argument 'name'
>>>

But using / (positional only arguments), it is possible since it allows name as a

positional argument and 'name' as a key in the keyword arguments:

def foo(name, /, **kwds):

return 'name' in kwds
>>> foo(1, **{'name': 2})
True
In other words, the names of positional-only parameters can be used
in **kwds without ambiguity.

4.7.3.5. Recap

The use case will determine which parameters to use in the function definition:

def f(pos1, pos2, /, pos_or_kwd, *, kwd1, kwd2):

As guidance:

• Use positional-only if you want the name of the parameters to not be available
to the user. This is useful when parameter names have no real meaning, if you
want to enforce the order of the arguments when the function is called or if you
need to take some positional parameters and arbitrary keywords.
• Use keyword-only when names have meaning and the function definition is
more understandable by being explicit with names or you want to prevent users
relying on the position of the argument being passed.
• For an API, use positional-only to prevent breaking API changes if the
parameter’s name is modified in the future.
4.7.4. Arbitrary Argument Lists
Finally, the least frequently used option is to specify that a function can be called with
an arbitrary number of arguments. These arguments will be wrapped up in a tuple
(see Tuples and Sequences). Before the variable number of arguments, zero or more
normal arguments may occur.

def write_multiple_items(file, separator, *args):

file.write(separator.join(args))

Normally, these variadic arguments will be last in the list of formal parameters,
because they scoop up all remaining input arguments that are passed to the function.
Any formal parameters which occur after the *args parameter are ‘keyword-only’
arguments, meaning that they can only be used as keywords rather than positional
arguments.

>>>
>>> def concat(*args, sep="/"):
... return sep.join(args)
...
>>> concat("earth", "mars", "venus")
'earth/mars/venus'
>>> concat("earth", "mars", "venus", sep=".")
'earth.mars.venus'

4.7.5. Unpacking Argument Lists

The reverse situation occurs when the arguments are already in a list or tuple but need
to be unpacked for a function call requiring separate positional arguments. For
instance, the built-in range() function expects separate start and stop arguments. If
they are not available separately, write the function call with the *-operator to unpack
the arguments out of a list or tuple:

>>>
>>> list(range(3, 6)) # normal call with separate
arguments
[3, 4, 5]
>>> args = [3, 6]
>>> list(range(*args)) # call with arguments unpacked
from a list
[3, 4, 5]

In the same fashion, dictionaries can deliver keyword arguments with the **-operator:

>>>
>>> def parrot(voltage, state='a stiff', action='voom'):
... print("-- This parrot wouldn't", action, end=' ')
... print("if you put", voltage, "volts through it.", end='
')
... print("E's", state, "!")
...
>>> d = {"voltage": "four million", "state": "bleedin' demised",
"action": "VOOM"}
>>> parrot(**d)
-- This parrot wouldn't VOOM if you put four million volts
through it. E's bleedin' demised !

4.7.6. Lambda Expressions

Small anonymous functions can be created with the lambda keyword. This function
returns the sum of its two arguments: lambda a, b: a+b. Lambda functions can be
used wherever function objects are required. They are syntactically restricted to a
single expression. Semantically, they are just syntactic sugar for a normal function
definition. Like nested function definitions, lambda functions can reference variables
from the containing scope:

>>>
>>> def make_incrementor(n):
... return lambda x: x + n
...
>>> f = make_incrementor(42)
>>> f(0)
42
>>> f(1)
43

The above example uses a lambda expression to return a function. Another use is to
pass a small function as an argument:

>>>
>>> pairs = [(1, 'one'), (2, 'two'), (3, 'three'), (4, 'four')]
>>> pairs.sort(key=lambda pair: pair[1])
>>> pairs
[(4, 'four'), (1, 'one'), (3, 'three'), (2, 'two')]

4.7.7. Documentation Strings

Here are some conventions about the content and formatting of documentation strings.

The first line should always be a short, concise summary of the object’s purpose. For
brevity, it should not explicitly state the object’s name or type, since these are available
by other means (except if the name happens to be a verb describing a function’s
operation). This line should begin with a capital letter and end with a period.

If there are more lines in the documentation string, the second line should be blank,
visually separating the summary from the rest of the description. The following lines
should be one or more paragraphs describing the object’s calling conventions, its side
effects, etc.

The Python parser does not strip indentation from multi-line string literals in Python,
so tools that process documentation have to strip indentation if desired. This is done
using the following convention. The first non-blank line after the first line of the string
determines the amount of indentation for the entire documentation string. (We can’t
use the first line since it is generally adjacent to the string’s opening quotes so its
indentation is not apparent in the string literal.) Whitespace “equivalent” to this
indentation is then stripped from the start of all lines of the string. Lines that are
indented less should not occur, but if they occur all their leading whitespace should be
stripped. Equivalence of whitespace should be tested after expansion of tabs (to 8
spaces, normally).

Here is an example of a multi-line docstring:

>>>
>>> def my_function():
... """Do nothing, but document it.
...
... No, really, it doesn't do anything.
... """
... pass
...
>>> print(my_function.__doc__)
Do nothing, but document it.

No, really, it doesn't do anything.

4.7.8. Function Annotations

Function annotations are completely optional metadata information about the types
used by user-defined functions (see PEP 3107 and PEP 484 for more information).

Annotations are stored in the __annotations__ attribute of the function as a

dictionary and have no effect on any other part of the function. Parameter annotations
are defined by a colon after the parameter name, followed by an expression evaluating
to the value of the annotation. Return annotations are defined by a literal ->, followed
by an expression, between the parameter list and the colon denoting the end of
the def statement. The following example has a positional argument, a keyword
argument, and the return value annotated:

>>>
>>> def f(ham: str, eggs: str = 'eggs') -> str:
... print("Annotations:", f.__annotations__)
... print("Arguments:", ham, eggs)
... return ham + ' and ' + eggs
...
>>> f('spam')
Annotations: {'ham': <class 'str'>, 'return': <class 'str'>,
'eggs': <class 'str'>}
Arguments: spam eggs
'spam and eggs'