Skip to content

Python while Loops

while loops let you repeat a block of code as long as a condition remains True. They’re handy when you don’t know ahead of time how many repetitions you’ll need.

1. Basic while Loop

counter = 1

while counter <= 5:
    print("Count:", counter)
    counter += 1

Flow
1. Check counter <= 5.
2. If True, run the body.
3. Increment counter.
4. Repeat until the condition becomes False.

2. while with Nested Conditionals

Add if statements inside the loop for more control.

number = 6

while number > 0:
    if number % 2 == 0:
        print(number, "is even")
    else:
        print(number, "is odd")
    number -= 1

3. Breaking Out Early with break

secret = "xyz"
attempts = 0

while attempts < 3:
    guess = input("Guess: ")
    if guess == secret:
        print("Correct!")
        break        # Exit loop immediately
    attempts += 1

if attempts == 3 and guess != secret:
    print("Out of tries.")

break stops the loop even if the condition is still True.

4. Skipping Ahead with continue

num = 0

while num < 10:
    num += 1
    if num % 2 == 0:
        continue    # Skip even numbers
    print(num)      # Prints only odd numbers

continue jumps back to the condition check, skipping the rest of the body.

Quick Reference

Keyword What It Does
while Repeat while a condition is True.
break Exit the loop immediately.
continue Skip to the next iteration.
Nested if Add extra decision‑making inside the loop.

Master these patterns, and you’ll handle most looping tasks in Python with confidence.