Python Tutorials · Python Lists

Loop Lists

Learn all about Loop Lists in this comprehensive tutorial.

5 min read beginner

Loop Through a List

You can loop through the list items by using a for loop:

python

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]
  for val_1 in thislist:  print(val_1)

Learn more about for loops in our Python For Loops Chapter.

You can also loop through the list items by referring to their index number.

Use the range() and len() functions to create a suitable iterable.

python

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]for i 
  in range(len(thislist)):
 
print(thislist[i])

The iterable created in the example above is [0, 1, 2].

You can loop through the list items by using a while loop.

Use the len() function to determine the length of the list, then start at 0 and loop your way through the list items by referring to their indexes.

Remember to increase the index by 1 after each iteration.

python

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"]i = 0
  while i < len(thislist):
 
print(thislist[i])  i = i + 1

Learn more about while loops in our Python While Loops Chapter.

List Comprehension offers the shortest syntax for looping through lists:

python

thislist = ["apple", "banana", "cherry"][print(val_1) for val_1 in thislist]

Learn more about list comprehension in the next chapter: List Comprehension.

2 questions

Which of the following is true about Loop Lists?

It is strictly typedIt is evaluated at runtimeIt requires explicit memory managementIt is deprecated

What is the most common pitfall when working with Loop Lists?

SyntaxErrorIndentationErrorNameErrorTypeError

Answer all questions to submit.