I'm reading Text Processing in Python right now and I came across a comment that is helping me to see for loops in a new light. I think because I'm used to the C-style for loop where you create a counter within the loop declaration, for loops have always seemed to me to be about doing something a certain number of times, and not about iterating over an object.
The reason for this distinction comes from the fact that I read a lot how using range and for is somewhat discouraged, because it doesn't really use a for loop for it's true purpose. So my question is, is this just a Python-oriented opinion about for loops, or is it a general idea? Also, what if you *do* need to just do something a set number of times. Is this okay, or does it mean you are approaching the problem incorrectly? Using for and range together seems to be a common idiom, yet at the same time discouraged, so I'm wondering what is a good balance. Thanks. -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
