Python Morsels: Python's range() function

The range function in Python can be used for counting upwards, counting downwards, or performing an operation a number of times. To count from 1 to 10, you could create a list of numbers and loop over it, but this can be tedious for larger numbers. Instead, you can use the range function, which accepts a start integer and a stop integer. The range function counts upward starting from the start number and stops just before the stop number. You can also call range with just one argument, in which case it starts at 0 and stops just before that argument. The range function can accept one, two, or three arguments. When given one argument, it starts at 0 and stops just before that number. When given two arguments, it starts at the first number and stops just before the second number. The third argument is the step value, which allows you to count by a certain increment. The range function is often used with for loops to perform an operation a certain number of times.