Hands-On Data Structures and Algorithms with Python - Second Edition

Flow control and iteration

Python programs consist of a sequence of statements. The interpreter executes each statement in order until there are no more statements. This is true if files run as the main program, as well as if they are loaded via import. All statements, including variable assignment, function definitions, class definitions, and module imports, have equal status. There are no special statements that have higher priority than any other, and every statement can be placed anywhere in a program. All the instructions/statements in the program are executed in sequence in general. However, there are two main ways of controlling the flow of program execution—conditional statements and loops.

The if...else and elif statements control ...