Why does "for" do what it does the way it does it?

Let's look at your questions.

> I suppose part of what confuses me about this is why it has to have a new container/variable created to put an already existing list into. Why does "for names:" not work the same as "for name in names". It's manipulating the same exact data so why the extra step of putting it into a new container?

The reason for the loop variable (new container) is to provide a reference to that object which can be used in other statements. If it were just "for names:" then some default reference would be needed for the loop variable. In Perl they have $_. In Python they have the saying "explicit is better than implicit." It also allows you to pick a readable, meaningful loop variable name like "for name in names:", then use name in the loop.

> Overall it feels like I get how to use for from a syntax perspective, but I don't really get the why behind how 'for' works like I do other statements such as if, not, elif, else, continue, break, etc.

Think of a for loop as running the same block of code for each item within an iterable container such as a string, list, set, or dict. How can this be done?

First, create a pointer that will sequentially reference one item from the iterable at a time. Assign that pointer a name so it can be easily referenced by the block of code. When the code block is complete, advance the pointer and repeat until the iterable is exhausted.

There are two keywords that can redirect the flow of a for loop.

• continue means stop the current iteration, advance the pointer and immediately start the next iteration.
• break means stop all execution of the for loop and move to the next line of code following the for loop code block.

Post back if you need more details.