You know, those ***** little things that make our code go round and round like a hamster on a wheel? But seriously, without them, programming would be a whole lot more boring.
So Let’s get cracking with the world of loop control structures in various programming languages. First up, we have PHP the language that makes us all feel nostalgic for our MySpace days (just kidding!). In PHP, loops are controlled by two keywords: while and do-while. The while keyword is used to execute a block of code as long as a condition is true, whereas the do-while keyword executes a block of code at least once before checking if the condition is true or not.
Here’s an example using both:
<?php
// Initialize a variable $i with a value of 0
$i = 0;
// Use a while loop to execute the code block as long as the condition $i < 10 is true
while ($i < 10) {
// Output the value of $i and add a new line
echo $i . "\n";
// Increment the value of $i by 1
$i++;
}
// Use a do-while loop to execute the code block at least once before checking the condition
do {
// Output a string
echo "This will always be executed at least once\n";
// Set the condition to false, so the loop will only execute once
} while (false);
Moving on to Perl, we have a similar situation with the for and foreach keywords. The for keyword is used for loops that execute a block of code a certain number of times or until a condition is true, whereas the foreach keyword is used for iterating over arrays and hashes.
Here’s an example using both:
# The for keyword is used for loops that execute a block of code a certain number of times or until a condition is true
# The foreach keyword is used for iterating over arrays and hashes
# Example using both keywords:
# Loop that executes a block of code 10 times
for (my $i = 0; $i < 10; $i++) {
print "$i\n"; # Prints the value of $i on a new line
}
# Loop that iterates over an array of colors
foreach my $color (@colors) {
print "The color is: $color\n"; # Prints the value of $color with a descriptive message on a new line
}
In Python, we have the for and while keywords as well. The for keyword is used for iterating over sequences (such as lists or strings), whereas the while keyword is used for executing a block of code repeatedly until a condition is true.
Here’s an example using both:
# This script uses the for and while keywords to demonstrate their functionality in Python.
# The for keyword is used to iterate over a sequence, in this case, the range of numbers from 0 to 9.
# The variable i is used to store each value in the range as it loops through.
for i in range(10):
print(i) # This line prints the current value of i.
# The while keyword is used to execute a block of code repeatedly until a condition is met.
# In this case, the condition is always True, so the loop will continue indefinitely until the user enters 'exit'.
while True:
# The input() function prompts the user to enter a value, which is then stored in the variable num.
num = input("Enter a number (or type 'exit' to quit): ")
# The if statement checks if the user entered 'exit'.
if num == 'exit':
# If the condition is met, the break keyword is used to exit the loop.
break
else:
# If the user did not enter 'exit', the else statement is executed.
# The int() function converts the user's input into an integer.
# The print() function then multiplies the integer by 2 and prints the result.
print(int(num) * 2)
In Rebol, we have the for and do keywords. The for keyword is used for iterating over sequences or ranges of numbers, whereas the do keyword is used for executing a block of code repeatedly until a condition is true (similar to while in other languages).
Here’s an example using both:
; The for keyword is used to iterate over a sequence or range of numbers.
; In this case, we are using it to iterate from 1 to 10.
for i 1 10 [
; The print function is used to output the value of i.
print i
]
; The do keyword is used to execute a block of code repeatedly until a condition is true.
; In this case, we are using it to execute the block forever.
do forever [
; The if function checks if the condition is true.
; In this case, we are checking if the print function returns a value.
if not (print "This will always be executed at least once")
; The do keyword is used to execute the break function, which exits the loop.
do break
]
In Ruby, we have the for and while keywords as well. The for keyword is used for iterating over arrays or ranges of numbers, whereas the while keyword is used for executing a block of code repeatedly until a condition is true (similar to while in other languages).
Here’s an example using both:
# This script uses the for and while keywords in Ruby to iterate over an array and execute a block of code repeatedly until a condition is met.
# First, we define a for loop to iterate over the range of numbers from 0 to 9.
for i in 0..9 do
# Within the loop, we use the puts method to print each number to the console.
puts i
end
# Next, we define a while loop to execute a block of code repeatedly until a condition is met.
while true
# We use the gets method to prompt the user for input and the chomp method to remove any trailing whitespace.
num = gets.chomp.to_i
# We use an if statement to check if the user input is equal to the string 'exit'.
if num == 'exit'
# If the condition is true, we use the break keyword to exit the loop.
break
else
# If the condition is false, we use the print method to multiply the user input by 2 and print the result to the console.
print(num * 2)
end
end
# Overall, this script demonstrates how to use the for and while keywords in Ruby to iterate over an array and execute a block of code repeatedly until a condition is met.
In Standard ML, we have the for and while keywords as well (surprise!). The for keyword is used for iterating over lists or ranges of numbers, whereas the while keyword is used for executing a block of code repeatedly until a condition is true.
Here’s an example using both:
(*
In Standard ML, we have the for and while keywords as well (surprise!).
The for keyword is used for iterating over lists or ranges of numbers,
whereas the while keyword is used for executing a block of code repeatedly
until a condition is true.
*)
(*
Here's an example using both:
*)
(*
The for keyword is used to iterate over a range of numbers from 1 to 10,
and the print function is used to display the current value of i.
*)
for i = 1 to 10 do print(i)
(*
The while keyword is used to execute a block of code repeatedly until a
condition is true. In this case, the condition is always true, so the code
will continue to execute indefinitely.
*)
while true do (
(*
The val keyword is used to declare a variable named input, which will
hold the value of the user's input from the command line.
*)
val input = Sys.stdin.readLine() in
(*
The if statement checks if the user's input contains the word "exit".
If it does, the break keyword is used to exit the loop. Otherwise, the
code inside the else block will be executed.
*)
if String.isSubstring("exit", input) then break else (
(*
The let keyword is used to declare a variable named num, which will
hold the parsed integer value of the user's input.
*)
let num = Int.parse(input);
(*
The println function is used to display the result of multiplying
the user's input by 2.
*)
println(num * 2)
)
)
Finally, we have Visual Basic .NET the language that makes us all feel nostalgic for our Windows XP days (just kidding!). In VB.NET, we have the For and Do keywords as well. The For keyword is used for iterating over arrays or ranges of numbers, whereas the Do keyword is used for executing a block of code repeatedly until a condition is true (similar to while in other languages).
Here’s an example using both:
'For' loop to iterate over numbers 0 to 9
For i = 0 To 9
'Print the current value of i
Console.WriteLine(i)
Next
'Do' loop to repeatedly execute a block of code until a condition is met
Do While True
'Prompt user for input and convert it to an integer
Dim input As Integer = CInt(Console.ReadLine())
'Check if input is equal to "exit"
If input = "exit" Then
'Exit the loop if condition is met
Exit Do
End If
'Print the result of input multiplied by 2
Console.WriteLine("The result is: {0}", input * 2)
Loop
And that’s it, Loop control structures in various programming languages who knew they could be so entertaining? Just remember to use them wisely and not let your code become a hamster wheel of madness.