Python Data Structures and Algorithms

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 both files run as the main program as well as files that 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. There are two main ways of controlling the flow of program execution, conditional statements and loops.

The if, else, and elif statements control the conditional execution of statements. The general format is a series of if and