Python – Loop Lists

The purpose of this article is to introduce the Python lists loop with examples in the hope that it will be educational.

Loop Through a List

If we are discussing Python lists loops, you can loop through each item in the list using a for loop:

You should print each item in the list one by one:

Example

country_list = ["Finland", "Brazil", "Germany", "Spain", "England", "Maldives", "Croatia", "Denmark", "Italy", "USA"] for i in country_list: print(i)
Tip: Our Python For Loops Chapter provides more information about for loops.


Loop With Index Numbers

When it comes to Python lists loops, the index number can also be used for looping over list items.

To create a suitable iterable, use the range() and len() methods.

By referring to their index numbers, print all items:

Example

country_list = ["Finland", "Brazil", "Germany", "Spain", "England", "Maldives", "Croatia", "Denmark", "Italy", "USA"] for i in range( len(country_list)): print(country_list[i])

Using the example above, we create an iterable with [Finland”, “Brazil”, “Germany”, “Spain”, “England”, “Maldives”, “Croatia”, “Denmark”, “Italy”, “USA”].


Applying a While Loop

Using a while loop, you can loop through the list items.

The len() function can be used to determine the length of the list. Then you can start at 0 and loop through each item based on their indexes.

It is important to remember to increase the index after each iteration by 1.

To print all items, use a while loop to go through all the index numbers.

Example

country_list = ["Finland", "Brazil", "Germany", "Spain", "England", "Maldives", "Croatia", "Denmark", "Italy", "USA"] x = 0 while x < len(country_list): print(country_list[x]) x = x + 1
Additional Information: In our upcoming Python While Loops Chapter, you will learn more about while loops.

List comprehension looping

A Python lists loop can be implemented using list comprehension, which offers the shortest syntax:

The following is shorthand for looping through a list of items:

Example

country_list = ["Finland", "Brazil", "Germany", "Spain", "England", "Maldives", "Croatia", "Denmark", "Italy", "USA"] [print(i) for i in country_list]
Tip: In the next chapter, you’ll learn more about list comprehension.

Python Loop List Importance

Here are some key reasons why looping over lists is important:

  1. Lists contain multiple elements, and looping allows you to iterate over each element in the list. This is crucial when you need to perform operations or apply logic to each item individually. By using loops, you can access and process each element in the list without manually writing separate code for each item.
  2.  Lists often store collections of data, and looping over the elements of a list enables you to process and manipulate the data. You can perform calculations, transformations, filtering, or any other operations on each item of the list. Looping allows you to efficiently apply the same logic to every element in the list.
  3. Lists in Python are ordered, and looping allows you to access individual elements by their index position. This can be useful when you need to perform specific actions on elements based on their positions within the list. By using loops, you can access elements sequentially or in a controlled manner using the index values.
  4. Loops can be combined with conditional statements, such as if statements, to perform actions based on specific conditions. This is beneficial when you want to selectively process or modify certain elements of the list based on specific criteria. By looping over the list, you can apply conditional logic to elements and perform different actions accordingly.
  5. Lists often contain multiple items that require similar processing or actions to be performed on them. Loops allow you to automate repetitive tasks by iterating over the elements of the list. Instead of writing duplicate code for each item, you can use loops to perform the same operations on every element, reducing code duplication and improving efficiency.
  6. Lists can dynamically change in size, and looping allows you to handle lists of varying lengths. Whether the list has a fixed or variable number of elements, loops provide a mechanism to iterate over the elements and handle the list regardless of its size.
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