by Arup Nanda

Part 2 of a five-part series that presents an easier way to learn Python by comparing and contrasting it to PL/SQL.

Conditions and Loops

I hope you enjoyed Part 1 of this series where you were introduced to the basics of Python vis-a-vis the PL/SQL language. In this article, we will explore slightly more-advanced topics such as decisions and loops. As in the case of the Part 1, you also have the ability to watch the video of the article as well as download a podcast. Check out the Quick Summary at the end and go through the quiz to make sure you understand all concepts well.

Remember the typographical convention used for code fonts. Bold means it's your input. The rest is output or just plain code.

Like the earlier installment in the series, all Python code shown here is in a Python file. Unless explicitly mentioned otherwise, I name this file myfirst.py. Execute this in Python by passing it as an argument to the Python command-line interpreter as shown below.

C:\>python myfirst.py

What IF?

Let's start with the simplest of conditions, the IF statement. In PL/SQL, the general structure of the IF condition is:

IF <conditional expression> THEN

   <some statement>

ELSE

   <some statement>

END IF;

In Python, the syntax is still IF and ELSE; but there are two huge differences:

• The blocks between IF, ELSE, and END IF are not controlled by the syntactical elements but by positions or indentations (or spaces).
• The end of the syntactical elements is indicated by a colon (:).

Here is a general syntax. Remember, it's if; not IF; Python is case-sensitive. I have added line numbers to help in explanation.

1. if <conditional expression>:

2.    <some statement>

3.    <more statements>

4. else:

5.    <some statement>

Note the colon (:) at the end of the if and else lines (lines 1 and 4). That is needed. Also note the indentation on lines 2, 3, and 5. That is needed to tell Python what statements fall under the block. If you miss the indentation, Python will interpret those as outside the block. Let's examine an example. We want to compare two numbers n1 and n2 and display whether n1 is less than n2.

PL/SQL

declare

  n1      number;

  n2      number;

begin

  n1 := 2;

  n2 := 3;

  if (n1<n2) then

     dbms_output.put_line('n1 is less than n2');

  else

     dbms_output.put_line('n1 is not less than n2');

  end if;

end;

/

The output is:

n1 is less than n2

Python

n1 = 2

n2 = 3

if (n1<n2):

    print('n1 is less than n2')

else:

    print('n1 is not less than n2')

print('This is the end of program')

Here is the output:

C:\>python myfirst.py
n1 is less than n2
This is the end of program

I deliberately added the last line, print('This is the end of program'), to show you how Python interprets the indentation. Since that line was not indented, Python interpreted it as outside the else block and, hence, executed it. Had you wanted it to be part of the else block, you would have indented it along the previous line. This is a very important point to remember, and forgetting it could be a source of many bugs.

The need for indentation could be a major source of issues for PL/SQL developers new to Python because there is no such requirement in PL/SQL. This is one case where the Python GUI environment—the IDLE editor about which you learned in Part 1—can help. When you type the following, the cursor automatically moves to the proper indentation; so your chances of making a mistake are reduced. Similarly if you don't remove the indentation while entering else, IDLE throws an error, shown in Figure 1.

if (n1<n2):

Figure 1

In Figure 1, note how I entered else at the same indent as the print() statement, which wasn't legal; so IDLE threw a syntax error. So, apart from color coding, IDLE also helps you master Python a bit faster by watching out for the little nuances you are not familiar with.

The ELSIF statement in PL/SQL is elif in Python.

PL/SQL

declare

   n1      number;

   n2      number;

begin

   n1 := 5;

   n2 := 3;

   if (n1<n2) then

      dbms_output.put_line('n1 is less than n2');

   elsif (n1=n2) then

      dbms_output.put_line('n1 is equal to n2');

   else

      dbms_output.put_line('n1 is greater than n2');

   end if;

end;

The output:

n1 is greater than n2

Python

n1 = 5

n2 = 3

if (n1<n2):

    print('n1 is less than n2')

elif (n1==n2):

    print('n1 is equal to n2')

else:

    print('n1 is greater than n2')

print('This is the end of program')

If you want to introduce multiple levels of IF, you can, but with indentation. Suppose you want to modify the above program to display a message that the difference is less than 2. Here is how you would do it. Note the indentations for the nested if statement.

n1 = 5

n2 = 3

if (n1==n2):

    print('n1 is equal to n2')

elif (n1<n2):

    print('n1 is less than n2')

    if ((n2-n1)<=2):

        print('but it\'s not that much less')

else:

    print('n1 is greater than n2')

    if ((n1-n2)<=2):

        print('but it\'s not that much more')

print('This is the end of program')

Let's Make a Case

Unlike PL/SQL, there is no CASE statement in Python. You have to use if...elif...else statement blocks to accomplish the equivalent functionality. Here is a sample of PL/SQL with the case statement followed by the equivalent in Python.

declare

   n1      number;

begin

   n1 := 5;

   case

      when (n1<=25) then

        dbms_output.put_line('n1 is within 25');

      when (n1<=50) then

             dbms_output.put_line('n1 is within 50');

      when (n1<=75) then

        dbms_output.put_line('n1 is within 75');

      else

        dbms_output.put_line('n1 is greater than 75');

   end case;

end;

The same program can be written in Python as:

n1 = 5

if (n1<=25):

    print('n1 is within 25')

elif (n1<=25):

    print('n1 is within 50')

elif (n1<=75):

    print('n1 is within 75')

else:

    print('n1 is greater than 75')

Again, pay attention to the indentations for the blocks of statements and the colon (:) character.

For the Love of Loop

Consider the classic looping in PL/SQL using the FOR ... LOOP ... END LOOP construct. The general structure is:

FOR i in StartingNumber .. EndingNumber LOOP

   ...

END LOOP;

The Python equivalent is also called for; but there is no LOOP keyword and, consequently, no END LOOP either. As in the case of the if statement, the end of the conditional expression is marked by the colon (:) character. Also, like the if statement, the block of program statements to be repeated is identified by its indentation.

In Python, you can specify the starting and ending numbers using a function called range(). This function produces a range of values. Let's see an example. We want to produce a range of values from 1 to 10 and display them.

PL/SQL

begin

   for i in 1..10 loop

           dbms_output.put_line('i= '||i);

   end loop;

end;

Python

for i in range(1,11):

    print('i=',i)

Executing it produces this:

C:\>python myfirst.py
i= 1
i= 2
i= 3
i= 4
i= 5
i= 6
i= 7
i= 8
i= 9
i= 10

Note we passed 1,11 to the range() function, not 1,10. This is important because range() creates numbers up to, but not including, the upper limit. If we want to step backwards, that is, start with 10 and then count backwards to 9, 8, and so on to 1, we can use the programs shown below. In Python the third parameter in the range() function identifies the step. A -1 starts the count backwards.

PL/SQL

begin

   for i in reverse 1..10 loop

           dbms_output.put_line('i= '||i);

   end loop;

end;

Python

for i in range(10,0,-1):

    print('i=',i)

But the range() function is more powerful. If we had asked it to skip every other number, that is, to print odd numbers, it could have by using the following:

for i in range(1,11,2):

    print('i=',i)

Here is the output:

C:\>python myfirst.py

i= 1

i= 3

i= 5

i= 7

i= 9

There is no corresponding command in PL/SQL. We would have to use something like this:

begin

   for i in 1..10 loop

           if (mod(i,2) = 1) then

                   dbms_output.put_line('i= '||i);

           end if;

   end loop;

end;

Looping Through Arrays

In the previous case, we learned how to loop through a series of numbers using the range() function. But remember, the range() function simply returns an array of numbers which you iterate through. The loop is not limited to numbers, though. Remember you learned about arrays in Part 1. You can iterate through any array.

Here is an example. Suppose we have an array of week days and we want to iterate through them and print each one with its position in the array.

Python

a = ['Mary', 'had', 'a', 'little', 'lamb']

for i in range(len(a)):

      print(i, a[i])

Here is the output:

0 Mary

1 had

2 a

3 little

4 lamb

Looping While

The second type of loop we will cover is a variant of FOR but without a start and end—the WHILE loop. It allows you to loop as long as a condition is met (the condition could always be manipulated to be always true for a loop-forever loop). Here is an example of printing the 10 number.

PL/SQL

declare

   i number := 0;

begin

   while (i<11) loop

     dbms_output.put_line('i= '||i);

     i := i+1;

   end loop;

end;

/

i= 0

i= 1

i= 2

i= 3

i= 4

i= 5

i= 6

i= 7

i= 8

i= 9

i= 10

Python

i = 0

while (i<11):

    print ('i=',i)

    i = i+1

Note the super important differences from PL/SQL.

• There is a colon (:) after the condition in the line containing the while statement.
• The indentation of the print function is important. This indentation tells the program that it is a part of that while loop. All the statements with the same indentation will be executed as a part of that while statement.

Executing this program produces this:

C:\>python myfirst.py

i= 0

i= 1

i= 2

i= 3

i= 4

i= 5

i= 6

i= 7

i= 8

i= 9

i= 10

Breaking from the Loop

Suppose you want to put a condition in the loop that will make the program break away from the loop when the condition is satisfied. For instance, in the previous program, you want to break form the loop when the variable i is a multiple of 5. In PL/SQL, you can do that in two different ways:

• exit when ConditionIsSatisfied
• if (ConditionIsSatisfied) then exit

Functionally they are the same. In Python, the keyword break breaks the loop from executing and jumps out to the first line after the loop. We will see the approaches in both these languages.

PL/SQL

Approach 1

declare

   i       number := 1;

begin

   while (i<11) loop

           exit when mod (i,5) = 0;

           dbms_output.put_line('i= '||i);

           i := i+1;

   end loop;

end;

Approach 2

declare

   i       number := 1;

begin

   while (i<11) loop

           dbms_output.put_line('i= '||i);

           i := i+1;

           if mod (i,5) = 0 then

                   exit;

           end if;

   end loop;

end;

In either approach the output is the same:

i= 1

i= 2

i= 3

i= 4

PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.

While the output is same, the approaches are different and might behave differently. In the first approach, the condition for breaking is checked immediately at the start of the loop. In the second approach, it's evaluated after the counter is incremented. So you have to be careful in coding for each approach. The change in logic might be subtle, but it is important and can introduce bugs in the program.

Python

i = 1

while (i<11):

    print ('i=',i)

    i = i+1

    if (i%5 == 0):

        print ('Condition satisfied. Breaking')

        break

    print ('This is inside the loop but after break')

print ('This is after the loop')

Executing it produces this:

C:\>python myfirst.py

i= 0

This is inside the loop but after break

i= 1

This is inside the loop but after break

i= 2

This is inside the loop but after break

i= 3

This is inside the loop but after break

i= 4

Condition satisfied. Breaking

This is after the loop

Note that the following line is executed for each iteration of the loop.

print ('This is inside the loop but after break')

Why? It is after the break statement; so it should not have been executed until after the break condition, right?

The answer lies in the indentation. The indentation is less, that is, higher than, the break statement; so it is not part of the same code block as the break statement. It's executed inside the loop for each iteration. We also have this statement:

print ('This is after the loop')

This statement executes at the end, after the loop ends. Let's see a functionally same program in PL/SQL:

declare

   i       number := 1;

begin

   while (i<11) loop

          dbms_output.put_line('i= '||i);

           i := i+1;

           if mod (i,5) = 0 then

                exit;

                dbms_output.put_line('This is inside the loop but after exit');

           end if;

   end loop;

   dbms_output.put_line('This is after the loop');

end;

Executing it produces this output:

i= 1

i= 2

i= 3

i= 4

This is after the loop

Note how this line was not executed:

dbms_output.put_line('This is inside the loop but after exit');

Why was that, when the same line in Python was executed? It's simple.

if mod (i,5) = 0 then

   exit;

   dbms_output.put_line('This is inside the loop but after exit');

end if;

This statement was after the exit call, and the loop exits. It does not go to any other line after that. In contrast, the Python program has this:

    if (i%5 == 0):

        print ('Condition satisfied. Breaking')

        break

    print ('This is inside the loop but after break')

Note the indentation of the print function. It's not the same as the break. Therefore, it was not executed after the break statement. If you change the indentation as shown below, the print() statement is now at the same indentation as the break statement and, therefore, it will execute right after that, which is something you want:

    if (i%5 == 0):

        print ('Condition satisfied. Breaking')

        break

        print ('This is inside the loop but after break')

Here is the new Python program in its entirety.

i = 1

while (i<11):

    print ('i=',i)

    i = i+1

    if (i%5 == 0):

        print ('Condition satisfied. Breaking')

        break

        print ('This is inside the loop but after break')

print ('This is after the loop')

Here is the output:

C:\>python myfirst.py

i= 1

i= 2

i= 3

i= 4

Condition satisfied. Breaking

This is after the loop

Note how the annoying undesirable statement is not executing anymore. I hope that explains how important the indentation in Python is. It's more than just a tool to make the code more readable; it's actually functional.

The break statement applies to FOR loops as well. Let's see an example in both languages.

PL/SQL

begin

   for i in 1..10 loop

           dbms_output.put_line('i= '||i);

           if mod (i,5) = 0 then

                   exit;

           end if;

   end loop;

end;

Python

for i in range(1,11):

    print ('i=',i)

    if (i%5 == 0):

        print ('Condition satisfied. Breaking')

        break

Else in For Loops

Python has another loop construct not available in PL/SQL. In a FOR loop, you can specify an ELSE statement block. This ELSE block is executed only if the loop is broken or completes without a match. It's easier to show that via an example. In this following program, I will ask the user to enter a number. Inside the program I will check if the number is a multiple of any numbers from 1 to 10. If a multiple is found, I will print "multiple is found" along with the number. If no multiple is found, then I will merely print "no multiples found."

mynum = int(input('Enter a number '))

for i in range(1,11):

    if (i%mynum) == 0:

        print ('Multiple found for ', mynum)

        break

else:

    print ('No multiple found for ', mynum)

When I execute the code, I get this:

C:\>python myfirst.py

Enter a number 3

multiple found for  3

Entering 3 satisfies the if (i%mynum) == 0 line in the program. There is a break statement; so the loop is broken and no further matching is made. If I pass a number that will not be matched, for example, 13, this happens:

C:\>python myfirst.py

Enter a number 13

No multiple found for 13

The loop executes completely without matching and then it comes to the else block and prints the statement there. Remember, this else block statements are executed only if the for loop completes without being broken. If the for loop is broken, the else block is not executed.

You might be tempted to argue back with a similar construct in PL/SQL, as follows:

declare

   mynum number := 13;

begin

   for i in 1..10 loop

       if mod (i,mynum) = 0 then

          dbms_output.put_line('multiple found for '||i);

           exit;

       end if;

   end loop;

   dbms_output.put_line ('No multiple found');

end;

When you execute it, you will see:

No multiple found

This is as expected. So, why are we saying there is no PL/SQL equivalent of the Python program? Let's see by changing the input value of mynum from 13 to 3  as it as in the Python program. Here is the output:

multiple found for 3

No multiple found

Well, we got a mixed output. The first line in the output is actually correct; but the second one is not. The problem is PL/SQL executes the line dbms_output.put_line ('No multiple found') anyway, after the loop either completes or is broken. We don't want that. Rather, we want to execute this line only when the loop ends without a match.

There is a solution, however, through this PL/SQL code:

declare

   mynum number := 3;

   found boolean := false;

begin

   for i in 1..10 loop

      if mod (i,mynum) = 0 then

         dbms_output.put_line('multiple found for '||i);

         found := true;

         exit;

      end if;

   end loop;

   if (not found) then

      dbms_output.put_line ('No multiple found');

   end if;

end;

This is functionally equivalent to the Python program, but with extra lines of code. Keep in mind the behavior of the Python program when break and else are used. In summary, the else block is executed only when the break is not executed.

The ELSE block in a loop is not just limited to FOR loops; you can use it in WHILE loops as well. Here is an example Python program where else is used in a while loop:

mynum = int(input('Enter a number '))

i = 0;

while i<11:

    i = i+1

    if (i%mynum) == 0:

        print ('multiple found for ', mynum)

        break

else:

    print ('No multiple found')

In summary, the else in a loop works  as described in the following pseudo code:

• Go through the loop.
• If the loop completes and exits normally, execute the else block.
• If the loop breaks, do not execute the else block.

Let's Continue

The continue statement is used inside a loop to instruct the program to jump to the end of the loop and continue with the rest of the loop iterations as usual. The syntax is the same in Python.

PL/SQL

declare

    mynum number := 3;

begin

    for i in 1..10 loop

            if mod (i,mynum) = 0 then

                    dbms_output.put_line('multiple found as '||i);

                    continue;

                    dbms_output.put_line('we are continuing');

            end if;

            dbms_output.put_line ('No multiple found as '||i);

   end loop;

end;

The output:

No multiple found as 1

No multiple found as 2

multiple found as 3

No multiple found as 4

No multiple found as 5

multiple found as 6

No multiple found as 7

No multiple found as 8

multiple found as 9

No multiple found as 10

As you can see, the program prints when a multiple is found; but that does not stop the loop because a loop breaker is not provided. However, the following line is never executed because it comes after the CONTINUE statement:

dbms_output.put_line('we are continuing');

Python

mynum = int(input('Enter a number '))

i = 0;

while i<10:

    i = i+1

    if (i%mynum) == 0:

        print ('multiple found as ',i)

        continue

        print ('we are continuing')

    print ('No multiple found as ',i)

C:\>python myfirst.py

Enter a number 3

No multiple found for  1

No multiple found for  2

multiple found for  3

No multiple found for  4

No multiple found for  5

multiple found for  6

No multiple found for  7

No multiple found for  8

multiple found for  9

No multiple found for  10

Note how the following line was not executed.

print ('we are continuing')

That is because all statements after the continue statement were skipped to the end of the loop. Just for the sake of completeness, let's see how indentation plays a vital role in Python. Suppose we make a mistake and do not place the indentation before the above line. Here is the full program:

mynum = input('Enter a number ')

i = 0;

while i<10:

    i = i+1

    if (i%mynum) == 0:

        print ('multiple found for ',i)

        continue

    print ('we are continuing')

    print ('No multiple found for ',i)

Here is the result:

C:\>python myfirst.py

Enter a number 3

we are continuing

No multiple found for  1

we are continuing

No multiple found for  2

multiple found for  3

we are continuing

No multiple found for  4

we are continuing

No multiple found for  5

multiple found for  6

we are continuing

No multiple found for  7

we are continuing

No multiple found for  8

multiple found for  9

we are continuing

No multiple found for  10

Note the dramatic change? What a difference the indentation makes! Pay particular attention to indentations in Python. The spacing of lines, not syntactical elements such as begin or end, define the scope of execution.

Let's Make a Null Pass

When you have to put in a line but nothing needs to be done, you usually use a NULL statement in PL/SQL.

PL/SQL

declare

   mynum number := 3;

begin

   for i in 1..10 loop

      if mod (i,mynum) = 0 then

         -- dbms_output.put_line('multiple found for '||i);

         null;

      else

         dbms_output.put_line ('No multiple found for '||i);

      end if;

   end loop;

end;

Note line number 7. The null statement doesn't do anything. But the IF statement needs something to be placed there and NULL fits the bill.

No multiple found for 1

No multiple found for 2

No multiple found for 4

No multiple found for 5

No multiple found for 7

No multiple found for 8

No multiple found for 10

Note how the line where the number 3 is encountered is not printed.

Python

In Python, the equivalent statement is called pass.

mynum = input('Enter a number ')

i = 0;

while i<10:

    i = i+1

    if (i%mynum) == 0:

        # print ('multiple found for ',i)

        pass

    else:

        print ('No multiple found for ',i)

Executing it produces this:

C:\>python myfirst.py

Enter a number 3

No multiple found for  1

No multiple found for  2

No multiple found for  4

No multiple found for  5

No multiple found for  7

No multiple found for  8

No multiple found for  10

Note how the line where the number 3 is encountered is not printed. It's because of the pass statement.

Quick Summary

In this article, you learned Python equivalents of some key PL/SQL elements for decision-making and looping.

Quiz

Now let's have a small quiz to make sure you understand the concepts well. The answers are given at the end of the quiz.

About the Author

Arup Nanda (arup@proligence.com has been an Oracle DBA since 1993, handling all aspects of database administration, from performance tuning to security and disaster recovery. He was Oracle Magazine's DBA of the Year in 2003 and received an Oracle Excellence Award for Technologist of the Year in 2012.