Programming Methodology &

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Lecture 10
Loops: Introduction and for






CS106
Programming Methodology
& Abstractions
Spring 2003
Balochistan University of IT & MS
Faculty of System Sciences
Sadique Ahmed Bugti
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What is a loop?
A loop allows a program to repeat a group of
statements any number of times, or until some
loop condition occurs.
The loop body contains the statements to be
repeated.
Commonly known as iterative or repetition
statements:
for
while
do-while
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What is a loop?
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What is a loop?
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Counting Loops
Counting loops are used when it can
be determined before loop execution
how many loop repetitions will be
needed.
while
for
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Conditional Loops
Conditional loops are used when a loop
should be repeated until a desired
condition is met.
while
do-while
for
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for statement
Situations in which the number of passes through
the loop is known in advance are often best dealt
with using a for statement.
The general form of a for statement is
for (expr1; expr2; expr3)
statement;
where expr1 is used to initialize some parameter
(called a control variable, or index) that controls
the looping action, expr2 represents a condition
that must be true for the loop to continue
execution, and expr3 is used to modify the value
of the control variable initially assigned by expr1 .
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for statement
The for statement can also incorporate a
compound statement:

for (expr1; expr2; expr3)
{
statement 1 ;
statement 2 ;
...
statement n ;
}
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An example without loops
Sum the first eight odd numbers:
int sum = 0;
sum = sum + 1;
sum = sum + 2;
sum = sum + 2;
sum = sum + 2;
sum = sum + 2;
sum = sum + 2;
sum = sum + 2;
sum = sum + 2;
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An example using loops
int i, sum = 0;

for (i=1; i<=15; i = i + 2)
sum = sum + i;
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for statement
When a for statement is executed, expr2 is
evaluated and tested at the beginning of each
pass through the loop, whereas expr3 is
evaluated at the end of each pass.
If the loop-continuation condition is initially
false, the body portion of the loop is not
performed.
Any of the three parts can be omitted, although
the semicolons must remain.
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for statement
for structure

expr1
expr2
expr3 Body of loop
true
false
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for statement
for ( i = 1 ; i <= n ; i = i + 1)
for keyword control variable i
final value of control variable
for which the condition is true
initial value of control variable increment of control variable
loop-continuation condition
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for statement
i = 1
i <= n printf(%d, i); i = i + 1
body of loop increment the
control variable
determine if the final value of the
control variable has been reached
true
false
establish initial value of
control variable
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for statement
i <= 4
statement1
statement 2

statement n
i = 2
i <= 4
statement1
statement 2

statement n
i = 3
i <= 4
statement1
statement 2

statement n
i = 4
i <= 4
statement1
statement 2

statement n
i = 5
i = 1
condition
false
exit loop
i <= 4
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for statement - omissions
Any of the three parts can be omitted, although
the semicolons must remain.
If expr1 can be omitted if the control variable is
initialized elsewhere:

i = 0;
for ( ; i <= n ; i++)
{

}
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for statement - omissions
If expr3 can be omitted if the control variable is
altered by statements in the body of the for
loop:

for (i = 1; i <= n; )
{

i = i + 1;
}
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for statement - omissions
If the logical expression, expr2 is not
present, it is taken as permanently true,
so
for ( ; ; )
{

}
is an infinite loop.
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for statement
expr3: altering the value of the control variable
This expression acts like a standalone C
statement at the end of the body of the for loop.
Therefore, the expressions:
i = i +1
i += 1
++i
i++
are all equivalent in incrementing the value of I by 1.
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for statement
For example for a loop :

for (i = 1 ; i <= n ; i++)
statement;

for (i = 1 ; i <= n ; i = i + 1)
statement;
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for statement
The value of expr3 may increment or
decrement the variable.
If expr3 is negative, the loop actually
counts downwards.
For example:

for (i = n ; i >= 0 ; i--)
statement;
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for statement
The initialization, loop-continuation
condition and control-variable
modification can contain arithmetic
expressions.
For example:
for (i = n; i <= n * j; i++)
statement;
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Examples using the for statement
Vary the control variable from 1 to 100 in
increments of 1.
for (i = 1 ; i <= 100 ; i++)
Vary the control variable from 100 to 1 in
increments of 1 (decrements of 1).
for (i = 100; i >= 1; i--)
Vary the control variable for 3 to 33 in
increments of 3.
for (i = 3; i <= 33; i+=3)
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Examples using the for statement
Vary the control variable from 20 to 2 in
steps of -2.

for (i = 20 ; i >= 2 ; i-=2 )
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Control Variables
Can you change the value of the counter
variable in the body of a for loop?
Yes, but the practice is not recommended.
A counter variable is used to control the loop,
so its value should be changed in the
modification expression, not in the loop body.
The following loop is correct, but would
cause an infinite loop:
for (k=1; k<3; k++)
k=1;
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for statement
#include <stdio.h>
void main(void)
{
/* A program to produce a Celsius to Fahrenheit
conversion chart for the numbers 0 to 100 */

int celsius;
for (celsius = 0; celsius <= 100; celsius++)
printf(Celsius: %d Fahrenheit: %d\n,
celsius, (celsius * 9) / 5 + 32);
}
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for statement
There are two common problems with
use of the for statement. They can have
too little content, or too much.
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Missing parts of for loops
The for statement is actually three statements in
one. Sometimes all three parts are not needed, so
one or more is left blank:
for ( ; start < end ; start++)

The initialization section of the for is the empty
statement ;. But with just a ; to guide you,
How can you tell that the initialization statement
hasnt been forgotten?
Including the comment: /* Start condition set */
tells you the omission was intentional.
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Missing parts of for loops
A comment is also needed when there is
no conditional clause. For example:

for (start = 0; /* break below */; start++)
{
.
}
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The comma operator can be used to combine
statements in a for statement. For example,
the statement:

for (two = 2, three = 3; two < 50; two +=2, three += 3)

is perfectly legal. This statement causes the
variable two to increment by 2 and the variable
three to increment by 3, all in one loop.
Overstuffed for loops
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Nested for loops
Loops can sometimes be nested
Nested means that there is a loop within a loop. A
nested loop is executed, essentially, from the
inside out.
Each loop is like a layer and has its own counter
variable, its own loop expression and its own loop
body.
In a nested loop, for each value of the outermost
counter variable, the complete inner loop will be
executed once.
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Nested for loops
Can you deduce how a nested loop is executed?
for (i = 1; i <= 4; i++)
{
for (j = 1; j <= 5; j+=2)
{
k = i + j;
printf(i=%d, j=%d, k=%d, i, j, k);
}
}
i is the outer loop counter and j is the inner loop counter.
The outer loop is executed 4 times, when i =1,2,3, and 4. For
each i value the inner loop is executed three times. Since
j=1,3, and 5 the inner loop is executed 4*3 or 12 times.
inner
loop
outer
loop
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Nested for loops
i=1, j=1, k=2
i=1, j=3, k=4
i=1, j=5, k=6
i=2, j=1, k=3
i=2, j=3, k=5
i=2, j=5, k=7
i=3, j=1, k=4
i=3, j=3, k=6
i=3, j=5, k=8
i=4, j=1, k=5
i=4, j=3, k=7
i=4, j=5, k=9
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Nested for loops
The general form of the nested for statement
loop is:
for (loop1_exprs)
{
loop_body_1a
for (loop2_exprs)
{
loop_body_2
}
loop_body_1b
}
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Nested for loops
How many nests can be used for nested
for loops?
Most compilers allow 15 nesting levels.
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Nested for loops
What nesting patterns for looping
control structures are allowable?
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The End