How do I leave a loop early in python?
for a in b:
if criteria in list1:
print "oh no"
#Force loop i.e. force next iteration without going on
someList.append(a)
Also, in java you can break out of a loop, is there an equivalent in Python?
continue and break is what you want. Python works identically to Java/C++ in this regard.
Firstly, bear in mind it might be possible to do what you want with a list comprehension. So you might be able to use something like:
somelist = [a for a in b if not a.criteria in otherlist]
If you want to leave a loop early in Python you can use break, just like in Java.
>>> for x in xrange(1,6):
... print x
... if x == 2:
... break
...
1
2
If you want to start the next iteration of the loop early you use continue, again just as you would in Java.
>>> for x in xrange(1,6):
... if x == 2:
... continue
... print x
...
1
3
4
5
Here's the documentation for break and continue. This also covers else clauses for loops, which aren't run when you break.
continue and break work exactly like in other programming languages, except that you cannot break to a label (as you can in Java, for example). That means you can only break one loop at a time.