# Basic Loops Structure¶

Written by PChan on 2017-04-15

## Loops Overview¶

In Java, repetitive tasks can be simplified through the usage of loops. In this tutorial, we will look at while loops and for loops.

## While Loops¶

The basic while loop structure is as follows:

while (BE){
// Code to run while BE is true
}


Some key points to note:

• If the boolean test is false when the while loop is first encountered, the entire while block would be skipped
• After the execution of the loop body, the boolean test is evaluated again and the loop is only executed again if the boolean test is true
• Inside the while loop, you generally want to modify the test so that it will eventually lead to termination

### Example¶

To print out Hello World ten times, you might write something like this:

i = 0;
while (i < 10){
System.out.println("Hello World");
i++;
}


## For Loops¶

The general structure of a for loop is:

for(initialization; test; update){
// code to run inside the for loop
}


initialization, test, and update must be valid Java statements. They can be omitted.

Breaking it down:

• initialization is where you initialize variables with a starting value
• test is a boolean expression that checks to see if the body of the loop should be evaluated
• update is where you modify the variables so that they will eventually fail the test

When the loop is first entered, the initialization statement is evaluated. Before each iteration of the loop, the test statement is evaluated to see if the body of the loop should be executed. The update statement is executed after the last statement in the body.

### Example¶

To print out Hello World ten times with a for loop:

for(int i = 0; i < 10; i++){
System.out.println("Hello World");
}


## For Loop vs While Loop¶

After understanding the for loop and the while loop, the next step is to understand when to use one and when to use the other.

Note

All for loops can be written as while loops and all while loops can be written as for loops.