Why 'while <= ' stops this from working?

Question

I just wonder, if this works just fine
>>>i = 1
>>>while i <=5:
>>> print(i)
>>> i = i + 1

Why I don't get any output for this?
>>>i = 5
>>>while i <=2:
>>> print(i)
>>> i = i - 1

I should get a similar output like this one, shouldn't I?
>>>i = 5
>>>while True:
>>> print(i)
>>> i = i - 1
>>> if i <= 2:
>>> break

Why (instead of <=2) I have to put >=2 in the second case to make it work?

Answer 1

A while loop runs while a condition is true.

In second case, i is 5, but the condition says, i has to be <= 2.

So your loop doesn't even start.

In your third example, you tell the loop to just run until you break it. And you break it as soon as i becomes 2. But it has run before already.

In second case you said under which condition the loop should run, the other time you told it when to stop - the opposite!

If in second case you had written...

while not i<=2:
...

... then it would have worked.

Answer 2

Think about it tebkanlo as when you reach <= 2 that while is done... but >= 2 means anything beyond 2 will print