break, continue, pass

Python has several operators that allow to change default loop behavior.

Break operator

Operator break allows early termination of loop:

• break breaks current loop and continues executing the next expressions
• if multiple nested loops are used, break interrupts internal loop and continues to execute expressions following the block. Break can be used in loops for and while

Example of loop for:

In [1]: for num in range(10):
   ...:     if num < 7:
   ...:         print(num)
   ...:     else:
   ...:         break
   ...:
0
1
2
3
4
5
6

Example of a loop while:

In [2]: i = 0
In [3]: while i < 10:
   ...:     if i == 5:
   ...:         break
   ...:     else:
   ...:         print(i)
   ...:         i += 1
   ...:
0
1
2
3
4

Using break in the password request example (check_password_with_while_break.py file):

username = input('Enter username: ')
password = input('Enter password: ')

while True:
    if len(password) < 8:
        print('Password is too short\n')
    elif username in password:
        print('Password contains username\n')
    else:
        print('Password for user {} is set'.format(username))
        # exit while loop
        break
    password = input('Enter password once again: ')

Now it is possible not to repeat string password = input('Enter password once again: ') in each branch, it is enough to move it to the end of loop.

And as soon as correct password is entered, break will take the program out of loop while.

Continue operator

Operator continue returns control to the beginning of loop. That is, continue allows to «jump» remaining expressions in loop and go to the next iteration.

Example of a loop for:

In [4]: for num in range(5):
   ...:     if num == 3:
   ...:         continue
   ...:     else:
   ...:         print(num)
   ...:
0
1
2
4

Example of a loop while:

In [5]: i = 0
In [6]: while i < 6:
   ....:     i += 1
   ....:     if i == 3:
   ....:         print("Skip 3")
   ....:         continue
   ....:         print("No one will see it")
   ....:     else:
   ....:         print("Current value: ", i)
   ....:
Current value:  1
Current value:  2
Skip 3
Current value:  4
Current value:  5
Current value:  6

Use of continue in example with password request (check_password_with_while_continue.py file):

username = input('Enter username: ')
password = input('Enter password: ')

password_correct = False

while not password_correct:
    if len(password) < 8:
        print('Password is too short\n')
    elif username in password:
        print('Password contains username\n')
    else:
        print('Password for user {} is set'.format(username))
        password_correct = True
        continue
    password = input('Enter password once again: ')

Here you can exit loop by checking password_correct flag. When correct password is entered, flag is set to True and with continue a jump to the beginning of loop is occurred by skipping the last line with password request.

The result will be:

$ python check_password_with_while_continue.py
Enter username: nata
Enter password: nata12
Password is too short

Enter password once again: natalksdjflsdjf
Password contains username

Enter password once again: asdfsujljhdflaskjdfh
Password for user nata is set

Pass operator

Operator pass does nothing. Basically it is a placeholder.

For example, pass can help when you need to specify a script structure. It can be set in loops, functions, classes. And it won’t affect execution of code.

Example of using pass:

In [6]: for num in range(5):
   ....:     if num < 3:
   ....:         pass
   ....:     else:
   ....:         print(num)
   ....:
3
4