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Controlling Loops

Loops in Python are great for repetition — but sometimes, you need to take control. Maybe you want to skip ahead, stop early, or do something special at the end. That’s where the loop control keywords continue, break, and else come in.

This guide explores how these keywords work and shows you how to use them effectively — with a few playful examples along the way.

Continuing a Loop

Sometimes, we want to skip over part of a loop's work for a particular iteration without stopping the whole thing. That’s where continue comes in — it tells the loop: “Skip the rest of this turn, move on to the next!”

Using Continue to Skip Ahead
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colours = ["red", "green", "blue", "orange"]

for colour in colours:
    if colour == "orange":
        print("Ugh, orange again? Let's pretend we didn't see that.")
        continue
    print(f"Ooooh, I totally dig the colour {colour}!")

Would result in:

Ooooh, I totally dig the colour red!
Ooooh, I totally dig the colour green!
Ooooh, I totally dig the colour blue!
Ugh, orange again? Let's pretend we didn't see that.
Tip

Often, continue can be replaced by simply using an if statement to wrap the block of code. For example: if colour != "orange": print(...) would achieve the same result. That said, continue can be helpful for readability — just use it mindfully.

Breaking a Loop

Sometimes, we want to stop a loop entirely when something important happens. This is known as abnormal termination, and the break statement is your go-to tool.

In the example below, we simulate a bank account that refuses to go into the red:

Using Break to Escape a Loop
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balance = 100
withdrawals = [10, 23, 12, 16, 43, 19, 4, 5]

for withdrawal in withdrawals:
    print(f"📤 Request to withdraw ${withdrawal}...")

    if (balance - withdrawal) < 0:
        print("🚨 Uh-oh! You're broke. No more money magic today.")
        break

    balance -= withdrawal
    print(f"✅ Success! You withdrew ${withdrawal}. Remaining balance: ${balance}")

Would result in:

📤 Request to withdraw $10...
✅ Success! You withdrew $10. Remaining balance: $90
📤 Request to withdraw $23...
✅ Success! You withdrew $23. Remaining balance: $67
📤 Request to withdraw $12...
✅ Success! You withdrew $12. Remaining balance: $55
📤 Request to withdraw $16...
✅ Success! You withdrew $16. Remaining balance: $39
📤 Request to withdraw $43...
🚨 Uh-oh! You're broke. No more money magic today.

Like the continue statement, break should also be used with caution. In the example above the same functionality could have been achieved with a while loop. Use with discretion!

Using Else with For Loops

One of Python’s lesser-known features is the ability to attach an else block to a loop. This block will run only if the loop completes naturally — that is, not interrupted by a break.

Here’s a playful example that builds on our earlier scenario:

Adding an Else to a For Loop
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balance = 200
withdrawals = [10, 23, 12, 16, 43, 19, 4, 5]

print("💸 Time for a little shopping adventure!")

for withdrawal in withdrawals:
    print(f"🛒 You spot something for ${withdrawal}...")

    if (balance - withdrawal) < 0:
        print("😱 Your wallet gasps in horror — not enough cash!")
        print("💀 The spree ends here, friend.")
        break

    balance -= withdrawal
    print(f"🎉 Purchase successful! You’ve got ${balance} left in your treasure chest.")
else:
    print("🎊 You made it through your spree without going broke!")

Would result in:

💸 Time for a little shopping adventure!
🛒 You spot something for $10...
🎉 Purchase successful! You’ve got $190 left in your treasure chest.
🛒 You spot something for $23...
🎉 Purchase successful! You’ve got $167 left in your treasure chest.
🛒 You spot something for $12...
🎉 Purchase successful! You’ve got $155 left in your treasure chest.
🛒 You spot something for $16...
🎉 Purchase successful! You’ve got $139 left in your treasure chest.
🛒 You spot something for $43...
🎉 Purchase successful! You’ve got $96 left in your treasure chest.
🛒 You spot something for $19...
🎉 Purchase successful! You’ve got $77 left in your treasure chest.
🛒 You spot something for $4...
🎉 Purchase successful! You’ve got $73 left in your treasure chest.
🛒 You spot something for $5...
🎉 Purchase successful! You’ve got $68 left in your treasure chest.
🎊 You made it through your spree without going broke!

Using else in loops isn't especially common, but when used well, it can express logic cleanly — particularly in search loops, or when you want to take special action only if no early exit occurred.

A Classic Use Case: Searching

The else clause shines when searching for something — if you find it, you break; if you don't, the else runs:

Search Loop with Else
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users = ["alice", "bob", "charlie", "diana"]
looking_for = "eve"

for user in users:
    if user == looking_for:
        print(f"Found {user}! ✅")
        break
else:
    print(f"User '{looking_for}' not found. 🔍")

Returns:

User 'eve' not found. 🔍

Controlling Nested Loops

When you have loops inside loops, break and continue only affect the innermost loop. This can trip people up!

Break Only Exits Inner Loop
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for i in range(3):
    print(f"Outer loop: {i}")
    for j in range(3):
        if j == 1:
            break  # Only breaks the inner loop!
        print(f"  Inner loop: {j}")

Returns:

Outer loop: 0
  Inner loop: 0
Outer loop: 1
  Inner loop: 0
Outer loop: 2
  Inner loop: 0

Notice the outer loop keeps running — break only escaped the inner loop.

Breaking Out of Multiple Loops

If you need to break out of nested loops entirely, you have a few options:

Option 1: Use a flag

Flag Variable
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found = False
for i in range(5):
    for j in range(5):
        if i * j == 6:
            print(f"Found it at ({i}, {j})!")
            found = True
            break
    if found:
        break

Option 2: Move loops into a function and use return

Extract to Function
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def find_pair():
    for i in range(5):
        for j in range(5):
            if i * j == 6:
                return (i, j)  # Exits the entire function
    return None

result = find_pair()
if result:
    print(f"Found it at {result}!")

Option 3: Use an exception (rarely needed)

Exception-Based Exit
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class FoundIt(Exception):
    pass

try:
    for i in range(5):
        for j in range(5):
            if i * j == 6:
                raise FoundIt()
except FoundIt:
    print(f"Found it at ({i}, {j})!")

Which Approach?

The function approach (Option 2) is usually the cleanest. If you find yourself needing to break out of nested loops, it's often a sign that the logic should be extracted into a function anyway. Clean code is like good coffee — worth the extra effort. ☕

Key Takeaways

Concept What to Remember
continue Skip to the next iteration
break Exit the loop entirely
else clause Runs only if no break occurred
Nested loops break/continue only affect the innermost loop
Breaking out Use a flag, extract to function, or (rarely) raise an exception
Best practice Extract nested loops to functions for cleaner return-based exits

Video Summary