Chapter 6: Loops

Chapter 6

Loops

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Chapter 6: Loops

Iteration Statements
• C’s iteration statements are used to set up loops.
• A loop is a statement whose job is to repeatedly
execute some other statement (the loop body).
• In C, every loop has a controlling expression.
• Each time the loop body is executed (an iteration
of the loop), the controlling expression is
evaluated.
– If the expression is true (has a value that’s not zero) the
loop continues to execute.

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Chapter 6: Loops

Iteration Statements
• C provides three iteration statements:
– The while statement is used for loops whose
controlling expression is tested before the loop body is
executed.
– The do statement is used if the expression is tested
after the loop body is executed.
– The for statement is convenient for loops that
increment or decrement a counting variable.

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Chapter 6: Loops

The while Statement

• Using a while statement is the easiest way to set
up a loop.
• The while statement has the form
while ( expression ) statement
• expression is the controlling expression; statement
is the loop body.

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Chapter 6: Loops

The while Statement

• Example of a while statement:
while (i < n) /* controlling expression */
i = i * 2; /* loop body */
• When a while statement is executed, the
controlling expression is evaluated first.
• If its value is nonzero (true), the loop body is
executed and the expression is tested again.
• The process continues until the controlling
expression eventually has the value zero.

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Chapter 6: Loops

The while Statement

• A while statement that computes the smallest power of
2 that is greater than or equal to a number n:
i = 1;
while (i < n)
i = i * 2;
• A trace of the loop when n has the value 10:
i = 1; i is now 1.
Is i < n? Yes; continue.
i = i * 2; i is now 2.
Is i < n? Yes; continue.
i = i * 2; i is now 4.
Is i < n? Yes; continue.
i = i * 2; i is now 8.
Is i < n? Yes; continue.
i = i * 2; i is now 16.
Is i < n? No; exit from loop.
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Chapter 6: Loops

The while Statement

• Although the loop body must be a single statement,
that’s merely a technicality.
• If multiple statements are needed, use braces to create
a single compound statement:
while (i > 0) {
printf("T minus %d and counting\n", i);
i--;
}
• Some programmers always use braces, even when
they’re not strictly necessary:
while (i < n) {
i = i * 2;
}
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Chapter 6: Loops

The while Statement

• The following statements display a series of
“countdown” messages:
i = 10;
while (i > 0) {
printf("T minus %d and counting\n", i);
i--;
}
• The final message printed is T minus 1 and
counting.

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Chapter 6: Loops

The while Statement

• Observations about the while statement:
– The controlling expression is false when a while loop
terminates. Thus, when a loop controlled by i > 0
terminates, i must be less than or equal to 0.
– The body of a while loop may not be executed at all,
because the controlling expression is tested before the
body is executed.
– A while statement can often be written in a variety of
ways. A more concise version of the countdown loop:
while (i > 0)
printf("T minus %d and counting\n", i--);

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Chapter 6: Loops

Infinite Loops
• A while statement won’t terminate if the controlling
expression always has a nonzero value.
• C programmers sometimes deliberately create an
infinite loop by using a nonzero constant as the
controlling expression:
while (1) …
• A while statement of this form will execute forever
unless its body contains a statement that transfers
control out of the loop (break, goto, return) or
calls a function that causes the program to terminate.

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Chapter 6: Loops

Program: Printing a Table of Squares

• The square.c program uses a while statement
to print a table of squares.
• The user specifies the number of entries in the
table:
This program prints a table of squares.
Enter number of entries in table: 5
1 1
2 4
3 9
4 16
5 25

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Chapter 6: Loops

square.c
/* Prints a table of squares using a while statement */

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{
int i, n;

printf("This program prints a table of squares.\n");

printf("Enter number of entries in table: ");
scanf("%d", &n);

i = 1;
while (i <= n) {
printf("%10d%10d\n", i, i * i);
i++;
}

return 0;
}
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Chapter 6: Loops

Program: Summing a Series of Numbers

• The sum.c program sums a series of integers
entered by the user:
This program sums a series of integers.
Enter integers (0 to terminate): 8 23 71 5 0
The sum is: 107
• The program will need a loop that uses scanf to
read a number and then adds the number to a
running total.

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Chapter 6: Loops

sum.c
/* Sums a series of numbers */

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{
int n, sum = 0;

printf("This program sums a series of integers.\n");

printf("Enter integers (0 to terminate): ");

scanf("%d", &n);
while (n != 0) {
sum += n;
scanf("%d", &n);
}
printf("The sum is: %d\n", sum);

return 0;
}
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Chapter 6: Loops

The do Statement
• General form of the do statement:
do statement while ( expression ) ;
• When a do statement is executed, the loop body is
executed first, then the controlling expression is
evaluated.
• If the value of the expression is nonzero, the loop
body is executed again and then the expression is
evaluated once more.

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Chapter 6: Loops

The do Statement
• The countdown example rewritten as a do
statement:
i = 10;
do {
printf("T minus %d and counting\n", i);
--i;
} while (i > 0);
• The do statement is often indistinguishable from the
while statement.
• The only difference is that the body of a do
statement is always executed at least once.
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Chapter 6: Loops

The do Statement
• It’s a good idea to use braces in all do statements,
whether or not they’re needed, because a do
statement without braces can easily be mistaken
for a while statement:
do
printf("T minus %d and counting\n", i--);
while (i > 0);
• A careless reader might think that the word
while was the beginning of a while statement.

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Chapter 6: Loops

Program: Calculating the

Number of Digits in an Integer
• The numdigits.c program calculates the
number of digits in an integer entered by the user:
Enter a nonnegative integer: 60
The number has 2 digit(s).
• The program will divide the user’s input by 10
repeatedly until it becomes 0; the number of
divisions performed is the number of digits.
• Writing this loop as a do statement is better than
using a while statement, because every integer—
even 0—has at least one digit.
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Chapter 6: Loops

numdigits.c
/* Calculates the number of digits in an integer */

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{
int digits = 0, n;

printf("Enter a nonnegative integer: ");

scanf("%d", &n);

do {
n /= 10;
digits++;
} while (n > 0);

printf("The number has %d digit(s).\n", digits);

return 0;
}
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Chapter 6: Loops

The for Statement

• The for statement is ideal for loops that have a
“counting” variable, but it’s versatile enough to be
used for other kinds of loops as well.
• General form of the for statement:
for ( expr1 ; expr2 ; expr3 ) statement
expr1, expr2, and expr3 are expressions.
• Example:
for (i = 10; i > 0; i--)
printf("T minus %d and counting\n", i);

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Chapter 6: Loops

The for Statement

• The for statement is closely related to the while
statement.
• Except in a few rare cases, a for loop can always be
replaced by an equivalent while loop:
expr1;
while ( expr2 ) {
statement
expr3;
}
• expr1 is an initialization step that’s performed only
once, before the loop begins to execute.

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Chapter 6: Loops

The for Statement

• expr2 controls loop termination (the loop continues
executing as long as the value of expr2 is nonzero).
• expr3 is an operation to be performed at the end of
each loop iteration.
• The result when this pattern is applied to the previous
for loop:
i = 10;
while (i > 0) {
printf("T minus %d and counting\n", i);
i--;
}

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Chapter 6: Loops

The for Statement

• Studying the equivalent while statement can
help clarify the fine points of a for statement.
• For example, what if i-- is replaced by --i?
for (i = 10; i > 0; --i)
printf("T minus %d and counting\n", i);
• The equivalent while loop shows that the change
has no effect on the behavior of the loop:
i = 10;
while (i > 0) {
printf("T minus %d and counting\n", i);
--i;
}
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Chapter 6: Loops

The for Statement

• Since the first and third expressions in a for
statement are executed as statements, their values
are irrelevant—they’re useful only for their side
effects.
• Consequently, these two expressions are usually
assignments or increment/decrement expressions.

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 Chapter 6: Loops

for Statement Idioms

• The for statement is usually the best choice for
loops that “count up” (increment a variable) or “count
down” (decrement a variable).
• A for statement that counts up or down a total of n
times will usually have one of the following forms:
Counting up from 0 to n–1: for (i = 0; i < n; i++) …
Counting up from 1 to n: for (i = 1; i <= n; i++) …
Counting down from n–1 to 0: for (i = n - 1; i >= 0;
i--) …
Counting down from n to 1: for (i = n; i > 0; i--) …

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Chapter 6: Loops

for Statement Idioms

• Common for statement errors:
– Using < instead of > (or vice versa) in the controlling
expression. “Counting up” loops should use the < or <=
operator. “Counting down” loops should use > or >=.
– Using == in the controlling expression instead of <,
<=, >, or >=.
– “Off-by-one” errors such as writing the controlling
expression as i <= n instead of i < n.

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Chapter 6: Loops

Omitting Expressions in a for Statement

• C allows any or all of the expressions that control a
for statement to be omitted.
• If the first expression is omitted, no initialization is
performed before the loop is executed:
i = 10;
for (; i > 0; --i)
printf("T minus %d and counting\n", i);
• If the third expression is omitted, the loop body is
responsible for ensuring that the value of the second
expression eventually becomes false:
for (i = 10; i > 0;)
printf("T minus %d and counting\n", i--);
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Chapter 6: Loops

Omitting Expressions in a for Statement

• When the first and third expressions are both
omitted, the resulting loop is nothing more than a
while statement in disguise:
for (; i > 0;)
printf("T minus %d and counting\n", i--);
is the same as
while (i > 0)
printf("T minus %d and counting\n", i--);
• The while version is clearer and therefore
preferable.

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Chapter 6: Loops

Omitting Expressions in a for Statement

• If the second expression is missing, it defaults to a
true value, so the for statement doesn’t terminate
(unless stopped in some other fashion).
• For example, some programmers use the
following for statement to establish an infinite
loop:
for (;;) …

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Chapter 6: Loops

for Statements in C99

• In C99, the first expression in a for statement
can be replaced by a declaration.
• This feature allows the programmer to declare a
variable for use by the loop:
for (int i = 0; i < n; i++)
…
• The variable i need not have been declared prior
to this statement.

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Chapter 6: Loops

for Statements in C99

• A variable declared by a for statement can’t be
accessed outside the body of the loop (we say that
it’s not visible outside the loop):
for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {
…
printf("%d", i);
/* legal; i is visible inside loop */
…
}
printf("%d", i); /*** WRONG ***/

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Chapter 6: Loops

for Statements in C99

• Having a for statement declare its own control
variable is usually a good idea: it’s convenient and
it can make programs easier to understand.
• However, if the program needs to access the
variable after loop termination, it’s necessary to
use the older form of the for statement.
• A for statement may declare more than one
variable, provided that all variables have the same
type:
for (int i = 0, j = 0; i < n; i++)
…
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Chapter 6: Loops

The Comma Operator

• On occasion, a for statement may need to have
two (or more) initialization expressions or one that
increments several variables each time through the
loop.
• This effect can be accomplished by using a
comma expression as the first or third expression
in the for statement.
• A comma expression has the form
expr1 , expr2
where expr1 and expr2 are any two expressions.
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Chapter 6: Loops

The Comma Operator

• A comma expression is evaluated in two steps:
– First, expr1 is evaluated and its value discarded.
– Second, expr2 is evaluated; its value is the value of the entire
expression. Left associative
• Evaluating expr1 should always have a side effect; if
it doesn’t, then expr1 serves no purpose.
• When the comma expression ++i, i + j is
evaluated, i is first incremented, then i + j is
evaluated.
– If i and j have the values 1 and 5, respectively, the value of
the expression will be 7, and i will be incremented to 2.

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Chapter 6: Loops

The Comma Operator

• The comma operator is left associative, so the
compiler interprets
i = 1, j = 2, k = i + j
as
((i = 1), (j = 2)), (k = (i + j))
• Since the left operand in a comma expression is
evaluated before the right operand, the
assignments i = 1, j = 2, and k = i + j will be
performed from left to right.

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Chapter 6: Loops

The Comma Operator

• The comma operator makes it possible to “glue” two
expressions together to form a single expression.
• Certain macro definitions can benefit from the comma
operator.
• The for statement is the only other place where the
comma operator is likely to be found.
• Example:
for (sum = 0, i = 1; i <= N; i++)
sum += i;
• With additional commas, the for statement could
initialize more than two variables.
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Chapter 6: Loops

Program: Printing a Table

of Squares (Revisited)
• The square.c program (Section 6.1) can be
improved by converting its while loop to a for
loop.

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Chapter 6: Loops

square2.c
/* Prints a table of squares using a for statement */

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{
int i, n;

printf("This program prints a table of squares.\n");

printf("Enter number of entries in table: ");
scanf("%d", &n);

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

printf("%10d%10d\n", i, i * i);

return 0;
}

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Chapter 6: Loops

Program: Printing a Table

of Squares (Revisited)
• C places no restrictions on the three expressions that
control the behavior of a for statement.
• Although these expressions usually initialize, test, and
update the same variable, there’s no requirement that
they be related in any way.
• The square3.c program is equivalent to
square2.c, but contains a for statement that
initializes one variable (square), tests another (i),
and increments a third (odd).
• The flexibility of the for statement can sometimes be
useful, but in this case the original program was clearer.
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Chapter 6: Loops

square3.c
/* Prints a table of squares using an odd method */

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{
int i, n, odd, square;

printf("This program prints a table of squares.\n");

printf("Enter number of entries in table: ");
scanf("%d", &n);

i = 1;
odd = 3;
for (square = 1; i <= n; odd += 2) {
printf("%10d%10d\n", i, square);
++i;
square += odd;
}

return 0;
}
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Chapter 6: Loops

Exiting from a Loop

• The normal exit point for a loop is at the
beginning (as in a while or for statement) or at
the end (the do statement).
• Using the break statement, it’s possible to write
a loop with an exit point in the middle or a loop
with more than one exit point.

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Chapter 6: Loops

The break Statement

• The break statement can transfer control out of a
switch statement, but it can also be used to jump
out of a while, do, or for loop.
• A loop that checks whether a number n is prime
can use a break statement to terminate the loop
as soon as a divisor is found:
for (d = 2; d < n; d++)
if (n % d == 0)
break;

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Chapter 6: Loops

The break Statement

• After the loop has terminated, an if statement can
be use to determine whether termination was
premature (hence n isn’t prime) or normal (n is
prime):
if (d < n)
printf("%d is divisible by %d\n", n, d);
else
printf("%d is prime\n", n);

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Chapter 6: Loops

The break Statement

• The break statement is particularly useful for writing
loops in which the exit point is in the middle of the body
rather than at the beginning or end.
• Loops that read user input, terminating when a particular
value is entered, often fall into this category:
for (;;) {
printf("Enter a number (enter 0 to stop): ");
scanf("%d", &n);
if (n == 0)
break;
printf("%d cubed is %d\n", n, n * n * n);
}

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Chapter 6: Loops

The break Statement

• A break statement transfers control out of the innermost
enclosing while, do, for, or switch.
• When these statements are nested, the break statement
can escape only one level of nesting.
• Example:
while (…) {
switch (…) {
…
break;
…
}
}
• break transfers control out of the switch statement, but
not out of the while loop.
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Chapter 6: Loops

The continue Statement

• The continue statement is similar to break:
– break transfers control just past the end of a loop.
– continue transfers control to a point just before the
end of the loop body.
• With break, control leaves the loop; with
continue, control remains inside the loop.
• There’s another difference between break and
continue: break can be used in switch
statements and loops (while, do, and for),
whereas continue is limited to loops.
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Chapter 6: Loops

The continue Statement

• A loop that uses the continue statement:
n = 0;
sum = 0;
while (n < 10) {
scanf("%d", &i);
if (i == 0)
continue;
sum += i;
n++;
/* continue jumps to here */
}

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Chapter 6: Loops

The continue Statement

• The same loop written without using continue:
n = 0;
sum = 0;
while (n < 10) {
scanf("%d", &i);
if (i != 0) {
sum += i;
n++;
}
}

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Chapter 6: Loops

The goto Statement

• The goto statement is capable of jumping to any
statement in a function, provided that the statement has a
label.
• A label is just an identifier placed at the beginning of a
statement:
identifier : statement
• A statement may have more than one label.
• The goto statement itself has the form
goto identifier ;
• Executing the statement goto L; transfers control to the
statement that follows the label L, which must be in the
same function as the goto statement itself.
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Chapter 6: Loops

The goto Statement

• If C didn’t have a break statement, a goto
statement could be used to exit from a loop:
for (d = 2; d < n; d++)
if (n % d == 0)
goto done;
done:
if (d < n)
printf("%d is divisible by %d\n", n, d);
else
printf("%d is prime\n", n);

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Chapter 6: Loops

The goto Statement

• The goto statement is rarely needed in everyday
C programming.
• The break, continue, and return statements
—which are essentially restricted goto
statements—and the exit function are sufficient
to handle most situations that might require a
goto in other languages.
• Nonetheless, the goto statement can be helpful
once in a while.

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Chapter 6: Loops

The goto Statement

• Consider the problem of exiting a loop from within a
switch statement.
• The break statement doesn’t have the desired effect: it exits
from the switch, but not from the loop.
• A goto statement solves the problem:
while (…) {
switch (…) {
…
goto loop_done; /* break won't work here */
…
}
}
loop_done: …
• The goto statement is also useful for exiting from nested
loops.
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Chapter 6: Loops

Program: Balancing a Checkbook

• Many simple interactive programs present the user with a
list of commands to choose from.
• Once a command is entered, the program performs the
desired action, then prompts the user for another
command.
• This process continues until the user selects an “exit” or
“quit” command.
• The heart of such a program will be a loop:
for (;;) {
prompt user to enter command;
read command;
execute command;
}
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Chapter 6: Loops

Program: Balancing a Checkbook

• Executing the command will require a switch
statement (or cascaded if statement):
for (;;) {
prompt user to enter command;
read command;
switch (command) {
case command1: perform operation1; break;
case command2: perform operation2; break;
.
.
.
case commandn: perform operationn; break;
default: print error message; break;
}
}
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Chapter 6: Loops

Program: Balancing a Checkbook

• The checking.c program, which maintains a
checkbook balance, uses a loop of this type.
• The user is allowed to clear the account balance,
credit money to the account, debit money from the
account, display the current balance, and exit the
program.

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Chapter 6: Loops

Program: Balancing a Checkbook

*** ACME checkbook-balancing program ***
Commands: 0=clear, 1=credit, 2=debit, 3=balance, 4=exit

Enter command: 1
Enter amount of credit: 1042.56
Enter command: 2
Enter amount of debit: 133.79
Enter command: 1
Enter amount of credit: 1754.32
Enter command: 2
Enter amount of debit: 1400
Enter command: 2
Enter amount of debit: 68
Enter command: 2
Enter amount of debit: 50
Enter command: 3
Current balance: $1145.09
Enter command: 4

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Chapter 6: Loops

checking.c
/* Balances a checkbook */

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{
int cmd;
float balance = 0.0f, credit, debit;

printf("*** ACME checkbook-balancing program ***\n");

printf("Commands: 0=clear, 1=credit, 2=debit, ");
printf("3=balance, 4=exit\n\n");
for (;;) {
printf("Enter command: ");
scanf("%d", &cmd);
switch (cmd) {
case 0:
balance = 0.0f;
break;

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Chapter 6: Loops

case 1:
printf("Enter amount of credit: ");
scanf("%f", &credit);
balance += credit;
break;
case 2:
printf("Enter amount of debit: ");
scanf("%f", &debit);
balance -= debit;
break;
case 3:
printf("Current balance: $%.2f\n", balance);
break;
case 4:
return 0;
default:
printf("Commands: 0=clear, 1=credit, 2=debit, ");
printf("3=balance, 4=exit\n\n");
break;
}
}
}
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Chapter 6: Loops

The Null Statement

• A statement can be null—devoid of symbols
except for the semicolon at the end.
• The following line contains three statements:
i = 0; ; j = 1;
• The null statement is primarily good for one thing:
writing loops whose bodies are empty.

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Chapter 6: Loops

The Null Statement

• Consider the following prime-finding loop:
for (d = 2; d < n; d++)
if (n % d == 0)
break;
• If the n % d == 0 condition is moved into the
loop’s controlling expression, the body of the loop
becomes empty:
for (d = 2; d < n && n % d != 0; d++)
/* empty loop body */ ;
• To avoid confusion, C programmers customarily
put the null statement on a line by itself.
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Chapter 6: Loops

The Null Statement

• Accidentally putting a semicolon after the parentheses in an if,
while, or for statement creates a null statement.
• Example 1:
if (d == 0); /*** WRONG ***/
printf("Error: Division by zero\n");
The call of printf isn’t inside the if statement, so it’s
performed regardless of whether d is equal to 0.
• Example 2:
i = 10;
while (i > 0); /*** WRONG ***/
{
printf("T minus %d and counting\n", i);
--i;
}
The extra semicolon creates an infinite loop.
61 Copyright © 2008 W. W. Norton & Company.
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Chapter 6: Loops

The Null Statement

• Example 3:
i = 11;
while (--i > 0); /*** WRONG ***/
printf("T minus %d and counting\n", i);
The loop body is executed only once; the message printed
is:
T minus 0 and counting
• Example 4:
for (i = 10; i > 0; i--); /*** WRONG ***/
printf("T minus %d and counting\n", i);
Again, the loop body is executed only once, and the same
message is printed as in Example 3.
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