Card 6: Loops (Repeating Actions)

Imagine you have to write "Hello, Andhra Pradesh!" 10 times. You could write the same line of code 10 times, or you could use a loop! A loop is a way to tell the computer to repeat an action, saving you a lot of work.

1. Why We Need Loops

Story: Loops are for efficiency. Instead of writing the same code again and again, you write it once and tell the computer how many times to repeat it.

Analogy: A farmer telling a worker to water 50 plants, instead of saying "water this plant," "water this plant," 50 times.

2. The `for` Loop: Repeating a Set Number of Times

Story: A `for` loop is perfect when you know exactly how many times you want to do something.

The Code: for i in range(5): print("This will print 5 times")

3. The `while` Loop: Repeating Until a Condition is Met

Story: A `while` loop is used when you want to repeat an action as long as a certain condition is true. It stops when the condition becomes false.

Analogy: A worker who is told to keep packing mangoes while there are still mangoes in the basket.

Python Code with Loops:

# A for loop to print numbers 0 to 4
print("For loop example:")
for i in range(5):
  print(i)

# A while loop to count up to 3
print("
While loop example:")
count = 0
while count < 3:
  print("Count is:", count)
  count = count + 1

Key Technical Terms

Loop: A block of code that repeats.
`for` loop: A loop that repeats a specific number of times.
`while` loop: A loop that repeats as long as a condition is true.
Iteration: A single pass through the loop's code.
Condition: A statement that evaluates to `True` or `False`, used to control a `while` loop.

Knowledge Check

If you want to print the names of all 50 students in a class, which loop is better to use?

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