When to use while or for in Python

Question

I am finding problems in when I should use a while loop or a for loop in Python. It looks like people prefer using a for loop (less code lines?). Is there any specific situation which I should use one or the other? Is it a matter of personal preference? The codes I have read so far made me think there are big differences between them.

Answer 1

while and for are both flow control statements. 
for loops are used when we know the number of iterations, while loops are used when number of iterations are unknown, while loop ends when some condition is met.

for loops are easier to read and also easier to understand as compared to while loops.

for num in range(5):
    print (num)

Output
 

0
1
2
3
4

num = 0
while num <= 5:
    print (num)
    num = num + 1

Output

0
1
2
3
4
5

In case of while loops some condition must be met, else it will result in an infinite loop.