If we're defining a loop with def loopy(items):
Why are we able to refer to 'items' as 'item', the non-plural version?

Question

I don't understand the relationship between item and items. It seems to me we would have to refer to it as items throughout the rest of the code. Why are we able to take the S off? My code looks like:
def loopy(items):
    for item in items:
        if item == "STOP":
            break
        print(item)
I thought it should look like:
def loopy(items):
    for items in items:
        if items == "STOP":
            break
        print(items)
But this clearly doesn't work. What is 'item' and its relationship with 'items'?

Steven Parker · Accepted Answer

The names "item" and "items" are two different variables.   The singular version is created by the loop:
py
    for item in items:

The first term is the "loop variable", which the loop creates for you.   Then, on each pass, the loop assigns that to one of the elements of the iterable ("items").   You could use another name if you want, but since the iterable has a plural name, using the singular version of the name for the loop variable is a good choice to make the code easy to understand.

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Gabriel Reed

Gabriel Reed

If we're defining a loop with def loopy(items): Why are we able to refer to 'items' as 'item', the non-plural version?

1 Answer

Steven Parker

Steven Parker

Gabriel Reed

Gabriel Reed