🔄 for Loops — Repeat a Set Number of Times

Now we move to iteration — repeating instructions. A for loop runs a block of code a specific number of times.

📖 What is Iteration?

Iteration means repeating a block of instructions. In Python there are two kinds:

for loop — repeats a known number of times ("do this 5 times")
while loop — repeats until a condition becomes false ("keep going while health > 0")

🔢 The range() Function

A for loop uses range() to tell Python how many times to repeat:

🐍 Python — for loop basics

for i in range(5):
    print("Loop number:", i)

🔍 What Is Happening?

range(5) produces the numbers: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 (five numbers total, starting from 0)
Each time through the loop, the variable i takes the next number
The indented line runs once for each number
After i has been 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4, the loop is finished

🎮 Game Example: Opening Loot Boxes

🐍 Python — for loop with game example

total_coins = 0

print("Opening 5 loot boxes...")

for box in range(1, 6):
    coins = box * 10
    total_coins = total_coins + coins
    print("Box", box, "- Got", coins, "coins!")

print("Total coins:", total_coins)

📋 range() Cheat Sheet

Code	Numbers Produced	How Many Times
`range(5)`	0, 1, 2, 3, 4	5 times
`range(1, 6)`	1, 2, 3, 4, 5	5 times
`range(0, 10, 2)`	0, 2, 4, 6, 8	5 times (counting by 2s)
`range(3)`	0, 1, 2	3 times

Key: range(start, stop) starts at start and stops before stop. So range(1, 6) goes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 — it stops before 6.