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For 2023 (and 2024 ...) - we are now fully retired from IT training.
We have made many, many friends over 25 years of teaching about Python, Tcl, Perl, PHP, Lua, Java, C and C++ - and MySQL, Linux and Solaris/SunOS too. Our training notes are now very much out of date, but due to upward compatability most of our examples remain operational and even relevant ad you are welcome to make us if them "as seen" and at your own risk.

Lisa and I (Graham) now live in what was our training centre in Melksham - happy to meet with former delegates here - but do check ahead before coming round. We are far from inactive - rather, enjoying the times that we are retired but still healthy enough in mind and body to be active!

I am also active in many other area and still look after a lot of web sites - you can find an index ((here))
While, for, foreach or something else to loop.

Newcomers to programming often ask "which loop should I use?"

Every language has a while loop, most have a for loop (though sometimes those differ in what they do - Python is an exceptional one, for example), and many have a foreach loop. Then you get the odd ones such as the until loop in Perl ...

A while loop is at the "lowest level" - you can always do what you want with that, but it may be a bit wordier than you wish in coding, and that may make it a bit more prone to coding with errors ("bugs"), and it may make it harder for someone coming along later to update your code to understand what's going on.

On yesterday's PHP course, I took an example of an array that I wanted to print our element by element ...

Using a while loop, I have separate statements to set the position number in the array that I'm starting at, to check the end, and to step up the counter (to the array) by one:

  $at = 0;
  while ($at < count($info)) {
    print "w: $info[$at]\n";
    $at++;
    }


With a for loop, I take my initial position setter and my stepper and move them into the controlling for statement, making the code much easier to follow, but not really reducing the code elements:

  for ($at = 0; $at < count($info); $at++) {
    print "f: $info[$at]\n";
    }


If I don't need to know the position number (don't want to print it out, or look back to the "previous", forward to the "next", then I can do completely without the position variable (called $at in my example) using a foreach loop:

  foreach ($info as $fruit) {
    print "g: $fruit\n";
    }


Complete example - [here]. PHP courses - [here].
(written 2012-11-06, updated 2012-11-10)

 
Associated topics are indexed as below, or enter http://melksh.am/nnnn for individual articles
P206 - Perl - More Loops and Conditionals
  [138] Perl - redo and last without a loop - (2004-12-02)
  [299] What - no switch or case statement? - (2005-05-03)
  [657] The ternary operator in Python - (2006-03-25)
  [962] Breaking a loop - Ruby and other languages - (2006-12-03)
  [1191] Smart English Output - via PHP and Perl ? : operator - (2007-05-18)
  [1220] for loop - how it works (Perl, PHP, Java, C, etc) - (2007-06-06)
  [1582] Ruby, C, Java and more - getting out of loops - (2008-03-19)
  [1696] Saying NOT in Perl, PHP, Python, Lua ... - (2008-07-04)
  [1825] Question Mark - Colon operator (Perl and PHP) - (2008-10-08)
  [2711] For loop - checked once, or evety time? Ruby v Perl comparison and contrast - (2010-04-07)
  [2815] switch and case, or given and when in Perl - (2010-06-17)
  [2817] Setting a safety net or fallback value in Perl - (2010-06-19)
  [2824] A pint of Black Rat, and a lazy barman - (2010-06-25)
  [2832] Are you learning Perl? Some more examples for you! - (2010-06-27)
  [2892] Alternative loops and conditionals in Ruby and Perl - (2010-07-28)
  [2967] Multiway branches in Perl - the given and when syntax - (2010-09-22)
  [2972] Some more advanced Perl examples from a recent course - (2010-09-27)
  [3200] How a for loop works Java, Perl and other languages - (2011-03-12)
  [3398] Perl - making best use of the flexibility, but also using good coding standards - (2011-08-19)
  [3619] Ruby v Perl - a comparison example - (2012-02-21)

H104 - PHP - Control Statements
  [340] Code and code maintainance efficiency - (2005-06-08)
  [353] Wimbledon Neck - (2005-06-20)
  [406] Assignment, equality and identity in PHP - (2005-08-08)
  [421] Don't repeat code - use loops or functions - (2005-08-21)
  [863] Double and Triple equals operator in PHP - (2006-09-12)
  [1199] Testing for one of a list of values. - (2007-05-22)
  [1477] Decisions - small ones, or big ones? - (2007-12-18)
  [2304] Extracting real data from an exported file in PHP or Perl - (2009-07-25)
  [2912] Predictions for the seagull population - (2010-08-09)
  [3397] Does a for loop evaluate its end condition once, or on every iteration? - (2011-08-18)
  [3895] Flowchart to program - learning to program with Well House - (2012-10-14)
  [4322] Learning to Program - the conditional statement (if) - (2014-11-21)
  [4323] Learning to program - Loop statements such as while - (2014-11-22)


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This is a page archived from The Horse's Mouth at http://www.wellho.net/horse/ - the diary and writings of Graham Ellis. Every attempt was made to provide current information at the time the page was written, but things do move forward in our business - new software releases, price changes, new techniques. Please check back via our main site for current courses, prices, versions, etc - any mention of a price in "The Horse's Mouth" cannot be taken as an offer to supply at that price.

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