Flow Control Statements — Overview

What you will learn

Flow control lets Python decide, repeat, and transfer execution.

The purpose of flow control statements is to perform a certain operation only once (when a condition is true or false), perform an operation repeatedly for a finite number of times until a test condition becomes false, or transfer control from one part of the program to another.

Three types of flow control

In Python, flow control statements are classified into 3 types:

Type	Also called	Purpose
I. Conditional	Selection / Branching	Perform a task once based on condition evaluation
II. Looping	Iterative / Repetitive	Perform a task repeatedly until condition becomes false
III. Transfer	Jump statements	Move PVM control from one part of the program to another

Complete module roadmap

I. Conditional (Selection / Branching)

Perform X-Operation when the condition is true, or Y-Operation when false.

#	Lesson	Topics
02	Simple if	Independent condition blocks
03	if..else	Mutually exclusive branches
04	if..elif..else	Multi-way decision chain
05	match..case	Menu-driven pre-designed conditions (Python 3.10+)

II. Looping (Iterative / Repetitive)

Perform an operation repeatedly for a finite number of times until the test condition becomes false.

#	Lesson	Topics
06	while / while..else	Counter-driven repetition
07	for / for..else	Iterate over iterable objects

When you write any loop program, remember 3 points:

1. Initialization — where to start
2. Conditional — where to stop
3. Updation — increment or decrement

III. Transfer flow statements

#	Lesson	Keyword
08	break	Exit loop early
09	continue	Skip to next iteration
10	pass	Placeholder — ignore block
—	return	Covered in Functions module

Advanced

#	Lesson	Topics
11	Nested loops	for-in-for, while-in-while, mixed
12	Practice programs	Combined interview-style problems

Before you start

You should be comfortable with Operators, Data Types, and Collections — loops often iterate over strings, lists, and range.

Knowledge check

Q1: How many main families of flow control are in Python?
Answer: Three — conditional, looping, and transfer.

Q2: What are the three parts every loop needs?
Answer: Initialization, condition, and updation.

Next: File 02 — Simple if Statement