Fibonacci sequence example has be slightly confused

>>> # Fibonacci series:
... # the sum of two elements defines the next
... a, b = 0, 1
>>> while b < 10:
... print b
... a, b = b, a+b
...
1
1
2
3
5
8


--------------------

This doesn't entirely make sense to me and I was wonderfing if someone could help explain it. I've just got started in programming and I don't understand how a & b are being assigned completely different variables and how it would make it calculate itself in a continuous loop if it weren't for the while b < 10:
thanks,
NightStalkerX6

Hey Night,

First you need to understand that anything after a # up untill the end of the line is a comment, so just forget about them .

The program first assigns the value 0 to a and 1 to b, next it starts a while loop which will continue untill b is not less than 10. Every time the loop runs though it prints the value of b then assignes that value to a and gives b the value of a + b

In theory the loop would keep going, adding a and b and printing the output, anyway i hope that's cleared things up for you

Welcome to Python, have fun!

Mark.

wassup NightStalker,

it helps to understand how a and b are assigned different values if you re-write the code like this:



i'm not sure if that's exactly what you were asking... if you look through the tutorials for python though, you could easily understand the concept of the while loop

in a statement such as this:
a,b = b,a+b

...python evaluates all expressions (ie b and a+b) on the right hand side before assigning any values to a or b. the previous example that i gave trying to clarify the assignments was incorrect, so sorry!

it's more like this:


sorry yall.

This is the simplest way to do it

Variables a, b, c, d

a = 1
b = 0
c = 1

While c < n # number of repetitions

c = c + 1

Print a

d = b
b = a
a = b + d

Loop

this is off topic but what is the number called if you divide 2 numbers of the fib sequence together? like 89/55 gets you close to some irrational number. as you move down the fib sequence you get closer and closer to the irrational number.

it has something to do with pentagons too... and other shapes like a dodecahedran.

It's called the Golden Ratio.