LOOP
There may be a situation, when you need to execute a block of code
several number of times. In general, statements are executed sequentially:
The first statement in a function is executed first, followed by the second,
and so on.
Programming languages provide various control structures that allow for
more complicated execution paths.
A loop statement allows us to execute a statement or group of statements
multiple times and following is the general form of a loop statement in most
of the programming languages:
C programming language provides the following types of loop to handle
looping requirements. Click the following links to check their detail.
Loop Type Description
Repeats a statement or group of statements
while loop while a given condition is true. It tests the
condition before executing the loop body.
for loop Execute a sequence of statements multiple
times and abbreviates the code that manages
the loop variable.
Like a while statement, except that it tests the
do...while loop
condition at the end of the loop body
You can use one or more loop inside any
nested loops
another while, for or do..while loop.
Loop Control Statements:
Loop control statements change execution from its normal sequence.
When execution leaves a scope, all automatic objects that were created in
that scope are destroyed.
C supports the following control statements. Click the following links to
check their detail.
Control
Description
Statement
Terminates the loop or switch statement and
break statement transfers execution to the statement
immediately following the loop or switch.
Causes the loop to skip the remainder of its
continue statement body and immediately retest its condition prior
to reiterating.
Transfers control to the labeled statement.
goto statement Though it is not advised to use goto statement
in your program.
The Infinite Loop:
A loop becomes infinite loop if a condition never becomes false.
The for loop is traditionally used for this purpose. Since none of the three
expressions that form the for loop are required, you can make an endless
loop by leaving the conditional expression empty.
#include <stdio.h>
int main ()
{
for( ; ; )
{
printf("This loop will run forever.\n");
}
return 0;
}
When the conditional expression is absent, it is assumed to be true. You
may have an initialization and increment expression, but C programmers
more commonly use the for(;;) construct to signify an infinite loop.