From the documentation:
range([start], stop[, step])
The start defaults to 0, the step can be whatever you want, except 0 and stop is your upper bound, it is not the number of iterations. So declare n to be whatever your upper bound is correctly and you will not have to add 1 to it.
e.g.
>>> for i in range(1, 7, 1): print(i)
...
1
2
3
4
5
6
>>> for i in range(1, 7, 2): print(i)
...
1
3
5
A nice feature, is that it works in reverse as well.
>>> for i in range(7, 0, -1): print(i)
...
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
If you aren't using it as an index but for something that can have positive or negative values, it still comes in handy:
>>> for i in range(2, -3, -1): print(i)
...
2
1
0
-1
-2
>>> for i in range(-2, 3, 1): print(i)
...
-2
-1
0
1
2
Answer from Rolf of Saxony on Stack OverflowI am pulling data from a dictionary and appending it to a list, but it appears that dictionary keys start at 1, not 0.
We have been taught to use for loops for this kind of task, but they initialize at 0. Can I start at 1? If not, what is an alternative? Thanks!
for i in range(len(dict)):
<code goes here>python - Pythonic way to iterate through a range starting at 1 - Stack Overflow
Python for loop start counter initialization - Stack Overflow
python - Why is this for loop starting at index 1 instead of index 0? - Stack Overflow
Can a for loop start somewhere other than 0?
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From the documentation:
range([start], stop[, step])
The start defaults to 0, the step can be whatever you want, except 0 and stop is your upper bound, it is not the number of iterations. So declare n to be whatever your upper bound is correctly and you will not have to add 1 to it.
e.g.
>>> for i in range(1, 7, 1): print(i)
...
1
2
3
4
5
6
>>> for i in range(1, 7, 2): print(i)
...
1
3
5
A nice feature, is that it works in reverse as well.
>>> for i in range(7, 0, -1): print(i)
...
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
If you aren't using it as an index but for something that can have positive or negative values, it still comes in handy:
>>> for i in range(2, -3, -1): print(i)
...
2
1
0
-1
-2
>>> for i in range(-2, 3, 1): print(i)
...
-2
-1
0
1
2
range(1, n+1) is not considered duplication, but I can see that this might become a hassle if you were going to change 1 to another number.
This removes the duplication using a generator:
for _ in (number+1 for number in range(5)):
print(_)
The for index in range(len(list)) loop executes the loop body with index first set to 0, then 1, then 2, etc. up to len(list) - 1. The previous value of index is ignored and overwritten. If you want index to start at iteration + 1, use the 2-argument form of range:
for index in range(iteration + 1, len(list)):
You really should be using enumerate for stuff like this, as you can loop through the index and the value at the same time (which will save you the hassle of using two for-loops).
for i, j in enumerate(list):
print i, j
Your inner loop is overriding the variable index that you defined in the first loop.
l = [a, b, c, d]
for x in l
print(x)Can this start at an index other than 0?
You can start a loop at whatever you want. The reason you see loops starting at zero often, is because they are looping through an array. Since the first item in an array is at index '0', it makes sense to start looping from 0 to access every item in an array.
You should use i = 0 in situations where iterating starting at zero would be natural, as previously stated this could include array indexing or similar. Personally I would say I use this style at least 90% of the time, as when modelling problems in the computer we mold them to use built in data structures, which usually start at 0. Our minds become use to working in this style.
Starting at i = 1 is more natural for modeling many problems while designing algorithms. For example, if you are given a problem such as person 1 is x years old, person 2 is y years old, and so on, indexing using the given numbers may make it easier to give an answer if asked something such as who is the youngest person in the list. Experience and experimentation will teach you if this is worthwhile, in my experience, this can be helpful in things such as programming competitions (like the ICPC), where algorithms must be developed quickly with not much time for debugging, and the algorithms can be very complex, so the clarity is important.
In other words it may be beneficial to waste this first index if it adds clarity, however experienced programmers quickly learn to understand both styles.
However, if you start at zero, remember to be aware that the arrays still start at zero, and you will need an n + 1 size array to represent n elements if you use indexing starting at 1.
Also be aware of your conditional in the for loop.
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) - Will loop 10 times
for (int i = 1; i <= 10; i++) - Will loop 10 times
It is basic, but a common source of errors that may be hard to track down, especially for beginning programmers.