Python – Returning a break statement

Question

If you call a function to check exit conditions, can you have it return a break statement? Something like:

def check():
    return break

def myLoop:
    while myLoop:
        check()

Is there anything like this allowed? I know the syntax as written isn’t valid.

Asked By: jylny

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Source

Answer 1

No, it doesn’t work like that unfortunately. You would have to check the return value and then decide to break out of the loop in the caller.

while myLoop:
   result = check()
   if result == 'oh no':
       break

Of course, depending on what you are trying to do, it may just be as simple as:

result = check()
while result != 'oh no':
     result = check()

Answered By: Burhan Khalid

Answer 2

break is a keyword but not an object so it is treated differently by the interpreter, link. Python function can only return objects or the like.

If you want to break out of a loop when deep inside functions, one way is to use an exception:

class BreakException(Exception):
    pass

Raise the exception somewhere in a function:

def some_func():
    raise BreakException()

And you can break out of a loop like this:

try:
    while True:
        some_func()
except BreakException:
    pass

I do not feel this is good practice, but have seen some language using it, Scala for example link.

Answered By: Jun Zhang

Answer 3

def check():
    #define your conditions here with if..else statement 
    return True


def myLoop():
    while True:
        if check()==True: break

Answered By: Divakar Ejilan

Python – Returning a break statement

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