46

I have written this:

    while file.readline().startswith("#"):
        continue

But I suspect the continue is unnecessary? What is the correct syntax for what i'm trying to achieve?

jsj
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    When I do this sort of thing I have a generator that skips commented lines and just yields the good lines. Whereas your use case seems to be for skipping the comments at the head of a file. – sotapme Feb 10 '13 at 11:18
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    In this simple example pass and continue are equivalent. I'd favour continue however as it expresses your intent more clearly. – Rob Cowie Feb 10 '13 at 11:20

2 Answers2

73
while file.readline().startswith("#"):
    pass

This uses the pass statement :

The pass statement does nothing. It can be used when a statement is required syntactically but the program requires no action.

http://www.network-theory.co.uk/docs/pytut/passStatements.html

ogzd
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0

Accepted answer link to pass statement tutorial is no longer working see official docs here:

https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/controlflow.html#pass-statements

pass is a null operation — when it is executed, nothing happens. It is useful as a placeholder when a statement is required syntactically, but no code needs to be executed

social
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