while, break, and continue

Scenario: Retry until a service responds, but stop after a safe limit.

New words, in plain English

• while loop - a loop that repeats while its condition is true
• break - leave the nearest loop now
• continue - skip to the next iteration

Use while when repetition depends on changing state. Ensure the condition can become false. break exits; continue skips remaining work; a loop else runs only when no break occurred.

Analogy: A Python program is like a clear set of instructions for a careful helper: names label things, indentation groups steps, and errors explain where the helper became confused.

A small, real example

attempt = 0
while attempt < 3:
    attempt += 1
    if attempt == 2:
        continue
    if attempt == 3:
        break

Tip: A bounded retry loop needs both a changing counter and a maximum.

Goal: Practice this idea in the py-conditionals-loops challenge at /labs/python. Fix the broken program, run it yourself, then use check to prove the real end state.