Breaking out of nested loops

for x in xrange(10):
    for y in xrange(10):
        print x*y
        if x*y > 50:
            break
    else:
        continue  # only executed if the inner loop did NOT break
    break  # only executed if the inner loop DID break

The same works for deeper loops:

for x in xrange(10):
    for y in xrange(10):
        for z in xrange(10):
            print x,y,z
            if x*y*z == 30:
                break
        else:
            continue
        break
    else:
        continue
    break

It has at least been suggested, but also rejected. I don't think there is another way, short of repeating the test or re-organizing the code. It is sometimes a bit annoying.

In the rejection message, Mr van Rossum mentions using return, which is really sensible and something I need to remember personally. :)

If you're able to extract the loop code into a function, a return statement can be used to exit the outermost loop at any time.

def foo():
    for x in range(10):
        for y in range(10):
            print(x*y)
            if x*y > 50:
                return
foo()

If it's hard to extract that function you could use an inner function, as @bjd2385 suggests, e.g.

def your_outer_func():
    ...
    def inner_func():
        for x in range(10):
            for y in range(10):
                print(x*y)
                if x*y > 50:
                    return
    inner_func()
    ...