{"id":328,"date":"2020-10-07T02:39:08","date_gmt":"2020-10-07T02:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pythontutorial.net\/?page_id=328"},"modified":"2025-03-26T13:52:36","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T13:52:36","slug":"python-for-loop-list","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.pythontutorial.net\/python-basics\/python-for-loop-list\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Use a For Loop to Iterate over a List"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Summary<\/strong>: in this tutorial, you’ll learn how to use the Python for<\/code> loop to iterate over a list in Python.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using Python for loop to iterate over a list #<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To iterate over a list<\/a>, you use the for<\/code> loop statement as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n

for<\/span> item in<\/span> list:\n    # process the item<\/span><\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Python<\/span> (<\/span>python<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
In this syntax, the for<\/code> loop statement assigns an individual element of the list<\/code> to the item<\/code> variable in each iteration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inside the body of the loop, you can manipulate each list element individually. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, the following defines a list of cities and uses a for<\/code> loop to iterate over the list:<\/p>\n\n\n
cities = ['New York'<\/span>, 'Beijing'<\/span>, 'Cairo'<\/span>, 'Mumbai'<\/span>, 'Mexico'<\/span>]\n\nfor<\/span> city in<\/span> cities:\n    print(city)<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Python<\/span> (<\/span>python<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Output:<\/p>\n\n\n
New York\nBeijing\nCairo\nMumbai\nMexico<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Shell Session<\/span> (<\/span>shell<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
In this example, the for<\/code> loop assigns an individual element of the cities<\/code> list to the city<\/code> variable and prints out the city<\/code> in each iteration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Using Python for loop to iterate over a list with index #<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Sometimes, you may want to access indexes of elements inside the loop. In these cases, you can use the enumerate()<\/code> function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The enumerate()<\/code> function returns a tuple<\/a> that contains the current index and element of the list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The following example defines a list of cities and uses a for<\/code> loop with the enumerate()<\/code> function to iterate over the list:<\/p>\n\n\n
cities = ['New York'<\/span>, 'Beijing'<\/span>, 'Cairo'<\/span>, 'Mumbai'<\/span>, 'Mexico'<\/span>]\n\nfor<\/span> item in<\/span> enumerate(cities):\n    print(item)<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Python<\/span> (<\/span>python<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Output:<\/p>\n\n\n
(0, 'New York')\n(1, 'Beijing')\n(2, 'Cairo')\n(3, 'Mumbai')\n(4, 'Mexico')<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Shell Session<\/span> (<\/span>shell<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
cities = ['New York'<\/span>, 'Beijing'<\/span>, 'Cairo'<\/span>, 'Mumbai'<\/span>, 'Mexico'<\/span>]\n\nfor<\/span> index, city in<\/span> enumerate(cities):\n    print(f\"{index}<\/span>: {city}<\/span>\"<\/span>)<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Python<\/span> (<\/span>python<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Output:<\/p>\n\n\n
0: New York\n1: Beijing\n2: Cairo\n3: Mumbai\n4: Mexico<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Shell Session<\/span> (<\/span>shell<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
The enumerate()<\/code> function allows you to specify the starting index which defaults to zero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The following example uses the enumerate()<\/code> function with the index that starts from one:<\/p>\n\n\n
cities = ['New York'<\/span>, 'Beijing'<\/span>, 'Cairo'<\/span>, 'Mumbai'<\/span>, 'Mexico'<\/span>]\n\nfor<\/span> index, city in<\/span> enumerate(cities,1<\/span>):\n    print(f\"{index}<\/span>: {city}<\/span>\"<\/span>)<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Python<\/span> (<\/span>python<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Output:<\/p>\n\n\n
1: New York\n2: Beijing\n3: Cairo\n4: Mumbai\n5: Mexico<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> Shell Session<\/span> (<\/span>shell<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Summary #<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Try it<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Try it<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
To access the index, you can unpack the tuple<\/a> within the for<\/code> loop statement like this:<\/p>\n\n\n
Try it<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Try it<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n