print(a * 5)?

Question

I think this quiz question is just designed to throw people off, but wanted to check here as not completely sure.

a = 5
while a < 5:
a += 5
print(a * 5)
Output: 25

#(a * 5) evaluates to (5 * 5) to 25, but what's with the while loop? "While a is less than five the same a equals a plus 5?" 5 is not less than 5, so shouldn't the output be an error (or undefined)? Or does the upper portion of the code to be ignored (and if so, how am I to know that)? Thanks for any help.

Answer 1

The while loop is ignored because its condition never holds true. No undefined behavior at all.

This is the same as doing the following.

a = 41
if a == 42:
print("Hello")
print("World!")

The if block is ignored because its condition is False, so only the last message is printed.