Pass statement in an if statement

Question

I try to understand, in this code, why python print the letter "w"? (I work with python 2.7.8):

LetterNum = 1

for Letter in 'Howdy!':
    if Letter == 'w':
        pass
        print 'Encountered w, not processed.'
    print ('Letter', LetterNum, 'is', Letter)
    LetterNum+= 1

I get this result:

>>> 
('Letter', 1, 'is', 'H')
('Letter', 2, 'is', 'o')
Encountered w, not processed.
('Letter', 3, 'is', 'w')
('Letter', 4, 'is', 'd')
('Letter', 5, 'is', 'y')
('Letter', 6, 'is', '!')

While I thought I should get this result:

>>> 
('Letter', 1, 'is', 'H')
('Letter', 2, 'is', 'o')
Encountered w, not processed.
('Letter', 4, 'is', 'd')
('Letter', 5, 'is', 'y')
('Letter', 6, 'is', '!')
>>>

If you need to keep track of index / loop number in a for loop, you should use enumerate. So you would use for LetterNum, Letter in enumerate('Howdy!'): Note though that this is zero-indexed by default. — SiHa
– SiHa, Commented Jul 7, 2015 at 13:24

Dan Doe · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-07 13:19:16Z

5

You are trying to use pass as though it were continue. Pass does nothing, while continue skips the current iteration. Here is code that does what you want with correct usage of continue:

LetterNum = 1

for Letter in 'Howdy!':
    if Letter == 'w':
        print 'Encountered w, not processed.'
        continue
    print ('Letter', LetterNum, 'is', Letter)
    LetterNum+= 1

answered Jul 7, 2015 at 13:19

Dan Doe

1,1663 gold badges14 silver badges25 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

Comments

Kshitij Saraogi · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-07 14:48:14Z

0

I hope you get the logical error in the code through @DanDoe's answer.
But if you just want the required output , an alternate solution would be to use else statement.

LetterNum = 1
for Letter in 'Howdy!':
    if Letter == 'w':
        print 'Encountered w, not processed.'
    else:
        print ('Letter', LetterNum, 'is', Letter)
        LetterNum+= 1

This would improve the efficiency of the code.

answered Jul 7, 2015 at 14:48

Kshitij Saraogi

7,7399 gold badges49 silver badges75 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Pass statement in an if statement

2 Answers 2

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related