SECTION 5:

STRUCTURED
PROGRAMMING IN PYTHON
ENGR 103 – Introduction to Engineering Computing
2 Conditional Statements
• if statements
• Logical and relational operators
• if…else statements

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 The if Statement
3

 We’ve already seen the if structure

 If X is true, do Y, if not, don’t do Y
 In either case, then proceed to do Z

 In Python:
if condition:
statements
⋮

 Statements are executed if condition is True

 Statement block defined by indenting those lines of code
 Condition is a logical expression
 Boolean - either True or False
 Makes use of logical and relational operators
 May use a single line for a single statement:
if condition: statement
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 Logical and Relational Operators
4

Operator Relationship or Logical Operation Example

== Equal to x == b
!= Not equal to k != 0
< Less than t < 12
> Greater than a > -5
<= Less than or equal to 7 <= f
>= Greater than or equal to (4+r/6) >= 2
AND – both expressions must evaluate to
and true for result to be true
(t > 0) and (c == 5)

OR – either expression must evaluate to

or true for result to be true
(p > 1) or (m > 3)

NOT– negates the logical value of an

not expression
not (b < 4*g)
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 The if…else Structure
5

 The if … else structure

 Perform one process if a condition
is true
 Perform another if it is false

 In Python:
if condition:
statements1
else:
statements2

 Note that if and else code

blocks are defined by indents
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 The if…elif…else Structure
6

 The if … elif … else structure

 If a condition evaluates as false, check another condition
 May have an arbitrary number of elif statements

 In Python:
if condition1:
statements1
elif condition2:
statements2
else:
statements3
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 The if…else, if…elif…else Structures
7

 Some examples:

 Note that code blocks are defined by indents

 Each line must have the same indent - use the Tab key
 Meaningful whitespace is a distinguishing characteristic of Python
 Other languages use brackets or end statements
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 The if…elif Structure
8

 We can have an if
statement without an else
 Similarly, an if…elif
structure need not have an
else
 In Python:
if condition1:
statements1:
elif condition2:
statements2
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9 while Loops

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 The while loop
10

 The while loop

 While X is true, do A
 Once X becomes false, proceed to B

 In Python:
while condition:
statements
⋮

 Statements are executed as long as

condition remains true
 Condition is a logical expression
 Whitespace (indent) defines while block
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 while Loop – Example 1
11

 Consider the following while loop example

 Repeatedly increment x by 7 as long as x is less than or equal to 30
 Value of x is displayed on each iteration

 x values displayed: 19, 26, 33

 x gets incremented beyond 30
 All loop code is executed as long as the condition was true at the
start of the loop

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 The break Statement
12

 Let’s say we don’t want x to increment beyond 30

 Add a conditional break statement to the loop

 break statement causes loop exit before executing all code

 Now, if (x+7)>30, the program will break out of the loop and
continue with the next line of code
 x values displayed: 19, 26
 For nested loops, a break statement breaks out of the current
loop level only
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 while Loop – Example 1
13

 The previous example could be simplified by modifying the

while condition, and not using a break at all

 Now the result is the same as with the break statement

 x values displayed: 19, 26
 This is not always the case
 The break statement can be very useful
 May want to break based on a condition other than the loop condition
 break works with both while and for loops

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 while Loop – Example 2
14

 Next, let’s revisit the while loop

examples from Section 4
 Use input() to prompt for input
 Use print() to return the result

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 while Loop – Example 3
15

 Here, we use a while loop to

calculate the factorial value of a
specified number

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 while Loop – Example 3
16

 Add error checking to ensure that x

is an integer
 One way to check if x is an integer:

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 while Loop – Example 3
17

 Another possible method for

checking if x is an integer:

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 Infinite Loops
18

 A loop that never terminates is an infinite loop

 Often, this unintentional
 Coding error
 Other times infinite loops are intentional
 E.g., microcontroller in a control system
 A while loop will never terminate if the while condition
is always true
 By definition, True is always true:

while True:
statements repeat infinitely

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 while True
19

 The while True syntax can be used in conjunction with a

break statement, e.g.:

 Useful for
multiple break
conditions
 Control over
break point
 Could also
modify the while
condition

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20 for Loops

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 The for Loop
21

 The for loop

 Loop executed a specified number of times

for var in iterable:

statements
⋮
 iterable: any iterable object (ndarray, list, tuple,
dict, str)
 var: variable that assumes each successive value in
iterable on each iteration
 Statements: code block that is executed once for
each item in iterable

 Collection-based, not counter-based

 Iterates through each item in a collection
 Can be counter-based, like flowchart to the right

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 for Loop – Example 1
22

 A collection-based (or iterator-

based) for loop
 Iterates through each value in a list
of days
 No explicit loop counter

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 for Loop – Example 2 – range()
23

 Counter-based for loop

 Use Python's range() function:
range(start, stop, step)
 Generate a list of loop counter values to
iterate through
 Technically, still collection-based

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 for Loop – Example 3 – enumerate()
24

 Sometimes we may want a combination of a collection-

based and counter-based for loop
 Iterate over both the values and indices of all items in an iterable
 Use Python's enumerate() function
 Generates an (index, value) pair for each item in the iterable

 For example, consider a list of numbers:

x = [2, 4, 6, 8, 10]
 Generate (index, value) pairs for each item in x:
i, val = enumerate(x)
 Generates the following (i, val) pairs:
(0, 2), (1, 4), (2, 6), (3, 8)
 Can iterate over these (index, value) pairs with a for loop
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 for Loop – Example 3 – enumerate()
25

 Loop through an array of numbers to

find the maximum value and its index
 Use enumerate() to simultaneously
loop through array values and their
indices

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 Exercise – for Loop, enumerate()
26

 The step response of a first-order system is given by

𝑡𝑡
−
𝑦𝑦 𝑡𝑡 = 1 − 𝑒𝑒 𝜏𝜏

 Write a script to do the following:

 Generate an array of 𝜏𝜏 values:
Exercise

𝜏𝜏 = 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠

 Generate a time vector with 2000 values between 0 and
5 ∗ max 𝜏𝜏
 In a for loop, using the enumerate function, iterate
through the values in 𝜏𝜏 and:
 Calculate 𝑦𝑦 𝑡𝑡
 Store the result as one column of a matrix, y
 Outside of the for loop, plot each of the columns of y on
a single set of axes

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27 Nested Loops

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 Nested Loop – Example 1
28

 Use a nested for loop to find the maximum value in a

matrix or 2-D array
 Outer loop steps through rows
 Inner loop steps through columns
 Store the largest value seen as the maximum value
 Consider an (m×n) matrix, A
 A[0] indexes the first row, so
for row in A:
 Steps through the rows in A one-by-one
 row = A[0], row = A[1], up to row = A[-1]
 An inner loop steps through each element in each row
for row in A:
for val in row:
<code to check for max>
 val = row[0], val = row[1], and so on
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 Nested Loop – Example 1
29

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 Nested for Loop – Example 2
30

 Evaluate a function of two variables:

−𝑥𝑥 2 −𝑦𝑦 2
𝑧𝑧 = 𝑥𝑥 ⋅ 𝑒𝑒
over a range of −2 ≤ 𝑥𝑥 ≤ 2 and −2 ≤ 𝑦𝑦 ≤ 2

 A surface in three-
dimensional space
 Later in the course, we’ll
learn how to generate
such a plot

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 Nested for Loop – Example 2
31

−𝑥𝑥 2 −𝑦𝑦 2
𝑧𝑧 = 𝑥𝑥 ⋅ 𝑒𝑒
 Evaluate the function over a range of 𝑥𝑥 and 𝑦𝑦
 First, define x and y
vectors
 Initialize the Z matrix
 Use a nested for loop
to step through all
points in this range of
the x-y plane
 Use enumerate() to
iterate through
indices and values

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 Nested Loops
32

 We just saw how we can use nested loops to:

 Find the maximum value in a matrix or 2-D array
 Evaluate a function of two variables
 A good illustration of nested loops, BUT
 There are easier, more efficient ways to do both of these
things in Python
 Looping is slow – avoid if possible
 Operate directly on arrays

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33 The Spyder Debugger

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 Debugging
34

 You’ve probably already realized that it’s not uncommon for your
code to have errors
 Computer code errors referred to as bugs
 Three main categories of errors
 Syntax errors prevent your code from running and generate a Python
error message
 Runtime errors – not syntactically incorrect, but generate an error upon
execution – e.g., indexing beyond matrix dimensions
 Algorithmic errors don’t prevent your code from executing, but do
produce an unintended result
 Syntax and runtime errors are usually more easily fixed than
algorithmic errors
 Debugging – the process of identifying and fixing errors is an
important skill to develop
 Spyder has a built-in debugger to facilitate this process

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 Debugging
35

 Identifying and fixing errors is difficult because:

 Programs run seemingly instantaneously
 Incorrect output results, but can’t see the intermediate
steps that produced that output

 Basic debugging principles:

 Slow code execution down – allow for stepping through
line-by-line
 Provide visibility into the code execution – allow for
monitoring of intermediate steps and variable values

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 Spyder Debugger – Breakpoints
36

 Breakpoint – specification of a line of code at which

Spyder should pause execution
 Set by clicking next to the number to the left of a
line of code in a script
 Spyder will execute the script up to this line, then pause

 Clicking here sets a

breakpoint
 Indicated by red
circle

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 Spyder Debugger – Breakpoints
37

 Click 'Debug file' to begin

execution
 Execution halts at the
breakpoint
 Before executing that line

 Console prompt changes

to IPdb [n]:
 Cannow interactively
enter commands

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 Spyder Debugger – Breakpoints
38

 Click 'Run current line' to

execute the current line
of code
 Arrow indicator advances
to the next line
 Variable, m, defined on
previous line (line 16)
now exists in the
namespace
 Available in the console

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 Debugger – Example
39

 Recall a previous example of an algorithm to square every

element in a matrix
 Let’s say we run our script and get the following result:

 Resulting matrix is transposed

 Use the debugger to figure out why
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 Debugger – Example
40

 Set a breakpoint in the

innermost for loop
 Click 'Debug file'
 Code executes up to the
breakpoint
 Variable Explorer shows
i=0 and j=0
 Click 'Run current line'
 Display B[i,j] and
C[i,j] in the console
 Both are as expected

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 Debugger – Example
41

 Click 'Run current line'

twice
 Execute the next
iteration of the loop
 Now, i=0 and j=1
 First row, second column
 B[i,j] = 10
 But, C[i,j] = 16
 Should be 100

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 Debugger – Example
42

 We see that C[1,2] = 16 = 4**2 = B[2,1]**2

 This leads us to an error on line 21 of the code
 Should be B[i,j]**2, not B[j,i]**2

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 Exercise – Nested Loops, Debugger
43

 Write a script to do the following:

 Create a 5x5 matrix of zeros, X
 Initialize a random number generator:
rng = [Link].default_rng()
In a nested loop step through all elements in X
Exercise

 Outer loop steps through rows, inner loop steps through

columns
 Replace each element in X with a random integer:
X[i,j] = [Link](100)

 Set a breakpoint at the start of the outer loop and

run the debugger
 Step through code line-by-line observing the
evolution of the matrix X
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