Python: Continuing to next iteration in outer loop Python: Continuing to next iteration in outer loop python python

Python: Continuing to next iteration in outer loop


for ii in range(200):    for jj in range(200, 400):        ...block0...        if something:            break    else:        ...block1...

Break will break the inner loop, and block1 won't be executed (it will run only if the inner loop is exited normally).


for i in ...:    for j in ...:        for k in ...:            if something:                # continue loop i

In a general case, when you have multiple levels of looping and break does not work for you (because you want to continue one of the upper loops, not the one right above the current one), you can do one of the following

Refactor the loops you want to escape from into a function

def inner():    for j in ...:        for k in ...:            if something:                returnfor i in ...:    inner()

The disadvantage is that you may need to pass to that new function some variables, which were previously in scope. You can either just pass them as parameters, make them instance variables on an object (create a new object just for this function, if it makes sense), or global variables, singletons, whatever (ehm, ehm).

Or you can define inner as a nested function and let it just capture what it needs (may be slower?)

for i in ...:    def inner():        for j in ...:            for k in ...:                if something:                    return    inner()

Use exceptions

Philosophically, this is what exceptions are for, breaking the program flow through the structured programming building blocks (if, for, while) when necessary.

The advantage is that you don't have to break the single piece of code into multiple parts. This is good if it is some kind of computation that you are designing while writing it in Python. Introducing abstractions at this early point may slow you down.

Bad thing with this approach is that interpreter/compiler authors usually assume that exceptions are exceptional and optimize for them accordingly.

class ContinueI(Exception):    passcontinue_i = ContinueI()for i in ...:    try:        for j in ...:            for k in ...:                if something:                    raise continue_i    except ContinueI:        continue

Create a special exception class for this, so that you don't risk accidentally silencing some other exception.

Something else entirely

I am sure there are still other solutions.


In other languages you can label the loop and break from the labelled loop. Python Enhancement Proposal (PEP) 3136 suggested adding these to Python but Guido rejected it:

However, I'm rejecting it on the basis that code so complicated to require this feature is very rare. In most cases there are existing work-arounds that produce clean code, for example using 'return'. While I'm sure there are some (rare) real cases where clarity of the code would suffer from a refactoring that makes it possible to use return, this is offset by two issues:

  1. The complexity added to the language, permanently. This affects not only all Python implementations, but also every source analysis tool, plus of course all documentation for the language.

  2. My expectation that the feature will be abused more than it will be used right, leading to a net decrease in code clarity (measured across all Python code written henceforth). Lazy programmers are everywhere, and before you know it you have an incredible mess on your hands of unintelligible code.

So if that's what you were hoping for you're out of luck, but look at one of the other answers as there are good options there.