It seems that you want to use step parameter of range function. From documentation:
range(start, stop[, step]) This is a versatile function to create
lists containing arithmetic progressions. It is most often used in for
loops. The arguments must be plain integers. If the step argument is
omitted, it defaults to 1. If the start argument is omitted, it
defaults to 0. The full form returns a list of plain integers [start,
start + step, start + 2 * step, ...]. If step is positive, the last
element is the largest start + i * step less than stop; if step is
negative, the last element is the smallest start + i * step greater
than stop. step must not be zero (or else ValueError is raised).
Example:
>>> range(10) [0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]
>>> range(1, 11) [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]
>>> range(0, 30, 5) [0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25]
>>> range(0, 10, 3) [0, 3, 6, 9]
>>> range(0, -10, -1) [0, -1, -2, -3, -4, -5, -6, -7, -8, -9]
>>> range(0) []
>>> range(1, 0) []
In your case to get [0,2,4] you can use:
range(0,6,2)
OR in your case when is a var:
idx = None
for i in range(len(str1)):
if idx and i < idx:
continue
for j in range(len(str2)):
if str1[i+j] != str2[j]:
break
else:
idx = i+j