A while loop may need to skip one value and still check its condition again for the next iteration. The Python continue statement skips the rest of the current iteration and moves to the next one. I’ll show how to…
When a loop has reached the point where it should stop, you need a way to end it before it checks more items or repeats again. Python’s break statement ends the for or while loop that contains it. I’ll show…
An empty function body is invalid in Python, even when the function should do nothing for now. The pass statement gives the function body a statement without performing an operation. I’ll show how pass keeps an empty function valid and…
When a function uses a name, Python searches the namespaces visible to that code block to find its binding. Scope is the region where a name can be resolved, and LEGB names the order Python searches those namespaces. I’ll trace…
Starting with Python often means checking whether a short program can display a message. A Python Hello World program uses print() to display the text Hello World. This article gives you the code and shows how to run it from…
When you add a function to a Python file, its purpose may not be clear to someone who calls it later. A Python docstring is a string at the start of a definition that Python makes available as documentation. This…
When a Python script needs to handle each value in a collection, repeating the same code by hand gets in the way. A loop repeats an indented block, with for taking values one at a time and while repeating as…
`”banana”.find(“pear”)` returns `-1` when the text is absent. I’m fascinated that a failed search has a clear result, while `-1` can still act as a valid slice position. You can separate the idea of a text fragment from the operation…
With `axis=0` on a 2×3 array, the result has one row index for each column. I like how that lets each column identify its own winning position. Those indices can guide a separate lookup for each column’s winner. `np.argmax` returns…
The `+` in `8 + 3` adds, while the same symbol in `”py” + “thon”` joins text. I like that one familiar symbol can do both jobs, depending on what it acts on. Once you can name the operation, choosing…