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Lecture 7 - Loop Structures

The document discusses different types of loop structures in Visual Basic including For-Next loops, Do-While loops, Do-Until loops, nested loops, and early exits from loops. It provides code examples and explanations of how each loop type works.

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curlicue
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2K views

Lecture 7 - Loop Structures

The document discusses different types of loop structures in Visual Basic including For-Next loops, Do-While loops, Do-Until loops, nested loops, and early exits from loops. It provides code examples and explanations of how each loop type works.

Uploaded by

curlicue
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Lecture 7: Loop Structures

Outline
“ In this lecture, we will discuss loop structures…
“ Our second class of VB structures for controlling program
flow.
“ We will discuss two broad classes of loops:
1. For…Next Loops
“ The For…Next Loop
“ The For Each…Next Loop
2. Do…Loop Loops
“ The Do While…Loop Loop
“ The Do Until…Loop Loop
“ The Do…Loop While Loop
“ The Do…Loop Until Loop
“ Combining Loops:
“ Nested Loops
Loop Structures
“ So far, our programs have been acyclic:
“ We have discussed both linear and branched programs…
“ In which process paths are executed once or not at all.
“ With no repeated processes (cycles).

“ However, real algorithms often use of loops:


“ i.e., the programmed (controlled) repetition of a basic process.
“ Example: Make a telephone bill for all of your customers (not just one).
“ The ability to repetitively cycle a process is called iteration.

“ Blocks of code for looping are called Loop Structures.


“ As noted in the outline, VB .NET provides several flavors of loops:
“ For…Next loops
“ Do…While loops

“ Each of these provides a means to control program flow…


“ Via controlled cycling.

“ Let’s take a look at the simplest: The For…Next loop.


The For…Next Loop
“ The simplest and most popular loop structure is the For…Next loop.
“ This allows the repeated execution of a set of statements…
“ With loop termination based on a loop index.

“ The VB syntax for the For…Next loop is:


For index=start To End Step step
statements
Next
“ index: is a loop variable which:
“ Indexes (counts) the number of loop iterations;
“ Is Initialized to the value, start
“ End specifies a loop condition , evaluated at each iteration:
“ Determines whether statements are executed.
“ If index < start, conditions are executed; otherwise, the loop ends.
“ Step sets the increment value of the loop (default = 1):
“ After each execution of ‘statements’, index is incremented by step;
z In other words: index += step
“ Note: if step is negative, you can loop backwards.
“ Next index : tells the running program to loop back to ‘For index’…
“ And test the loop condition, based on index,
z to see if another cycle is to be executed.
Flow Chart for the For…Next Loop
“ Example: ‘Calculate the sum of all integer values from 1 to 10.’
“ We use a For…Next loop
“ With loop variable, i to both index the 10 integers and control looping.
“ And variable Total to store the sum.
“ VB code:
Dim Total, i As Integer
Total = 0
For i=1 To 10 Step 1
Total = Total + i
Next
…

“ The For…Next loop’s flow of control is


shown clearly using a Flow Chart:
“ Our loop is executed 10 times.
“ Starting cycle 1: i = 1; Total = 0;
“ After cycle 10: i= 11; Total = 55.
“ The i=11 value fails the test, which stops the loop.
Program: Simple For…Next Loop
“ Let’s create a simple For…Next program…

lstData
Program: Simple For…Next Loop
Do…Loop Loops
“ A different type of loop structure is a Do…Loop loop:
“ Allow repeated execution of a set of statements…
“ With loop termination based on a conditional test (True/False).
“ Can be used to execute a loop an indefinite number of times.
“ Compare with a For…Next loop (set number of cycles).

“ There are 4 flavors of Do…Loop loops:


“ Made using two keywords: While and Until…
“ Loop Condition tested at the start of each loop cycle:

z Do While…Loop loop
z Loops while a condition is true.
z Do Until…Loop loop
z Loops until a condition becomes true.
z Note: loop body statements might be executed 0 times.
“ Loop Condition tested at the end of each cycle:
z Do…Loop While loop
z Loops while a condition is true
z Do…Loop Until loop
z Loops until a condition becomes true
z Note: loop body statements are executed at least 1 time.
The Do While…Loop Loop
“ The Do While…Loop loop:
“ Keeps looping while a loop condition is True;
“ Tests the condition at the start of each cycle.
“ Halts when the condition becomes False.

“ The VB syntax for the Do While…Loop loop is:


Do While condition
statements
Loop
“ Keyword Do says, ‘start the cycle’
“ Keyword While says ‘test our
condition’:
“ Tested at the start of each loop…
z If condition Æ True, statements
are executed once;
“ Example: (sum < 1000)
“ Keyword Loop then tells control to loop (return to Do)…
“ And another cycle begins
The Do Until…Loop Loop
“ The Do Until…Loop loop:
“ Keeps looping while a loop condition is False;
“ Tests the condition at the start of each cycle.
“ Halts after the cycle in which the condition becomes True.

“ The VB syntax for the Do Until…Loop loop is:


Do Until condition
statements
Loop
“ Keyword Do says, ‘start the cycle’
“ Keyword Until says ‘test our
condition’:
“ Tested at the start of each loop…
z If condition Æ False, statements
are executed once;
“ Example: (sum >= 1000)
“ Keyword Loop then tells control to loop (return to Do)….
“ And anther cycle begins.
The Do…Loop While Loop
“ The Do …Loop While loop:
“ Keeps looping while a loop condition is True;
“ Tests the condition at the end of each cycle.
“ Halts after the cycle in which the condition becomes False.

“ The VB syntax for the Do…Loop While loop is:


Do
statements
Loop While condition
“ Keyword Do says:
“ ‘Execute our statements once’.

“ Keywords Loop While say ‘test our condition’:


“ Tested at the bottom of each loop…
z If condition Æ True, control returns to
Do…
z And another cycle begins.

z Otherwise, the loop ends.

“ Example: (sum < 1000)


The Do …Loop Until Loop
“ The Do …Loop Until loop:
“ Keeps looping while a loop condition is False;
“ Tests the condition at the end of each cycle.
“ Halts after the cycle in which the condition becomes True.

“ The VB syntax for the Do …Loop Until loop is:


Do
statements
Loop Until condition
“ Keyword Do says:
“ ‘Execute our statements once’.

“ Keywords Loop Until say ‘test our condition’:


“ Tested at the bottom of each loop…
z If condition Æ False, control returns to
Do…
z And another cycle begins.

z Otherwise, the loop ends.

“ Example: (sum >= 1000)


Nested Loops
“ Sometimes it is desirable to place loops inside of loops.
“ These are referred to as Nested Loops…
“ Multiple loops of all types may be nested in the obvious way…
“ Example: A simple nested For…Next loop…
“ Purpose: Display all pairs of positive integers, each <=10, in
a ListBox called lstData.

For i=1 To 10
For j=1 To 10
lstData.Items.Add(i & “, ” & j)
Next
Next
Loops: Quitting Early

“ You may quit a loop pre-maturely (early)…


“ For instance, you may complete the task early…
“ And not need to continue looping.
“ This is done using the statement:
“ Exit For (For…Next Loops)
“ Exit Do (Do Loops)
“ Usually used in combination with a conditional statement…
“ E.g., and If…Then structure.

“ When quitting early, control is transferred:


“ To the statement after the last control statement of the loop.
“ Thus, for nested loops, the current loop is exited.

“ Note: There are equivalent Exit statements for other structures:


“ Exit Select, Exit If, Exit Function, Exit Sub, etc.
Program to Demonstrate Loops
Program (cont.)
Program (cont.)
Program (cont.)
Program (cont.)

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