To be fair, when I started learning CS, the `for x in y` syntax was cryptic to me because I was unfamiliar with concepts such as iterators & generators. `for(int i=0; i<len(y); i++)` made way more sense since there is no hidden logic (besides additions as you highlighted in your comment, but which I think is easier to have a grasp of). So I really wish I had read this article when I started my CS journey a couple of years ago.

It would be very surprising for somebody without a formal software development background and years of experience.

Looking back at 2015 when Python 2 was still supported, there was a lot of confusion for why Python 2 would create a tuple while Python 3 created a generator for the following statement:

  foo = (x for x in [10, 20, 30])

In the author's mind, it's unexpected/amazing that 'for' can iterate over many types. But it's NOT unexpected/amazing that 'iter' can iterate over many types. I have no idea why.

It's not like 'for' is limited to counting in other languages. The grand-daddy in c does something until some condition is false, and that thing can equally be incrementing/decrementing a number or invoking some function. That's what a loop does in any case, it compiles down to a conditional jump (JNE/JE..)

Maybe his reason for astonishment is obscured by over-use of an LLM to 'enhance' the text.

But it's not a Python thing. Rust is noted below, and there's also C++.

  std::container<T> container;

  for (std::container<T>::iterator i = container.begin(); i != container.end(); ++i) { ...} 

  auto iter = container.begin(); while (iter != container.end()) { ...; ++iter; }

  for (auto const & t : container) { ... }

Very few people who use Python realize the loop is not just looking into the values but asking the values to produce an iterator. It's only when they outgrow this early stage that they are ready to understand how to make a finite iterator themselves.