Chapter 6: Looping

Objectives
• Learn about the loop structure
• Create while loops
• Use shortcut arithmetic operators
• Create for loops
• Create do…while loops
• Nest loops
• Improve loop performance

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 Learning About the Loop Structure
• Loop
– A structure that allows repeated execution of a block of
statements
• Loop body
– A block of statements
– Executed repeatedly
• Iteration
– One execution of any loop

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 Learning About the Loop Structure
(cont’d.)
• Three types of loops
– while
• The loop-controlling Boolean expression is the first statement
– for
• A concise format in which to execute loops
– do…while
• The loop-controlling Boolean expression is the last statement

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 Learning About the Loop Structure
(cont’d.)

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 Creating while Loops
• while loop
– Executes a body of statements continually
• As long as the Boolean expression that controls entry into the loop
continues to be true
– Consists of:
• The keyword while
• Followed by a Boolean expression within parentheses
• Followed by the body of the loop; can be a single statement or a
block of statements surrounded by curly braces

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 Writing a Definite while Loop
• Definite loop
– Performs a task a predetermined number of times
– Also called a counted loop
• Write a definite loop
– Initialize the loop control variable
• The variable whose value determines whether loop execution
continues
– While the loop control variable does not pass a limiting
value, the program continues to execute the body of the
while loop

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 Writing a Definite while Loop
(cont’d.)

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 Writing a Definite while Loop
(cont’d.)
• Write a definite loop (cont’d.)
– The body of the loop must include a statement that alters
the loop control variable
• Infinite loop
– A loop that never ends
– Can result from a mistake in the while loop
– Do not write intentionally

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 Writing a Definite while Loop
(cont’d.)

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 Writing a Definite while Loop
(cont’d.)
• Suspect an infinite loop when:
– The same output is displayed repeatedly
– The screen remains idle for an extended period of time
• To exit an infinite loop, press and hold Ctrl, then
press C or Break

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 Writing a Definite while Loop
(cont’d.)

Figure 6-4 A while loop that displays “Hello” twice

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Pitfall: Failing to Alter the Loop Control
Variable Within the Loop Body
• Prevent the while loop from executing infinitely
– The named loop control variable is initialized to a starting
value
– The loop control variable is tested in the while statement
– If the test expression is true, the body of the while
statement takes action
• Alters the value of the loop control variable
– The test of the while statement must eventually evaluate
to false

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Pitfall: Failing to Alter the Loop Control
Variable Within the Loop Body (cont’d.)

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 Pitfall: Creating a Loop with an
Empty Body
• Loop control variable
– A variable that is altered and stored with a new value
loopCount = loopCount + 1
• The equal sign assigns a value to the variable on the left
– The variable should be altered within the body of the loop
• Empty body
– A body with no statements
– Caused by misplaced semicolons

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 Pitfall: Creating a Loop with an
Empty Body (cont’d.)

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 Altering a Definite Loop’s Control
Variable
• Incrementing the variable
– Alter the value of the loop control variable by adding 1
• Decrementing the variable
– Subtract 1 from the loop control variable
• Clearest and best method
– Start the loop control variable at 0 or 1
– Increment by 1 each time through the loop
– Stop when the loop control variable reaches the limit

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 Altering a Definite Loop’s Control
Variable (cont’d.)

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 Writing an Indefinite while Loop
• Indefinite loop
– Altered by user input
• Controlled by the user
• Executed any number of times
• Validating data
– Ensure a value falls within a specified range
– Use indefinite loops to validate input data
– If a user enters incorrect data, the loop repeats

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 Writing an Indefinite while Loop
(cont’d.)

Figure 6-8 The BankBalance application

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 Validating Data
• Ensuring data falls within a specific range
• Priming read
– Input retrieved before the loop is entered
– Within a loop, the last statement retrieves the next input
value and checks the value before the next entrance of the
loop

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 Validating Data (cont’d.)

Figure 6-10 The EnterSmallValue application

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 Using Shortcut Arithmetic
Operators
• Accumulating
– Repeatedly increasing a value by some amount
• Java provides shortcuts for incrementing and
accumulating
+= add and assign operator
-= subtract and assign operator
*= multiply and assign operator
/= divide and assign operator
%= remainder and assign operator

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 Using Shortcut Arithmetic
Operators (cont’d.)
• Prefix increment operator and postfix increment
operator
++someValue, someValue++
– Use only with variables
– Unary operators
• Use with one value
– Increase a variable’s value by 1
• No difference between operators (unless other operations are in
the same expression)

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 Using Shortcut Arithmetic
Operators (cont’d.)

Figure 6-13 Four ways to add 1 to a value

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 Using Shortcut Arithmetic
Operators (cont’d.)
• Prefix increment operator and postfix increment
operator (cont’d.)
– Prefix ++
• The result is calculated and stored
• Then the variable is used
– Postfix ++
• The variable is used
• Then the result is calculated and stored
• Prefix and postfix decrement operators
--someValue
someValue--
– Similar logic to increment operators
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 Using Shortcut Arithmetic
Operators (cont’d.)

Figure 6-14 The IncrementDemo application

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 Creating a for Loop
• for loop
– Used when a definite number of loop iterations is required
– One convenient statement indicates:
• The starting value for the loop control variable
• The test condition that controls loop entry
• The expression that alters the loop control variable

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 Creating a for Loop (cont’d.)

Figure 6-18 A for loop and a while loop that display the integers 1 through 10

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 Creating a for Loop (cont’d.)
• Other uses for the three sections of a for loop
– Initialization of more than one variable
• Place commas between separate statements
– Performance of more than one test using AND or OR
operators
– Decrementation or performance of some other task
– Altering more than one value
• You can leave one or more portions of a for loop
empty
• Two semicolons are still required as placeholders

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 Creating a for Loop (cont’d.)
• Use the same loop control variable in all three parts
of a for statement
• To pause a program:
– Use the for loop that contains no body
for(x = 0; x < 100000; ++x);
– Or use the built-in sleep() method

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 Learning How and When to Use
a do…while Loop
• do…while loop
– A posttest loop
– Checks the value of the loop control variable
• At the bottom of the loop
• After one repetition has occurred
– Performs a task at least one time
– You are never required to use this type of loop
– Use curly braces to block the statement
• Even with a single statement

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 Learning How and When to Use
a do…while Loop (cont’d.)

Figure 6-20 General structure of a do…while loop

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 Learning How and When to Use
a do…while Loop (cont’d.)

Figure 6-21 A do…while loop for the BankBalance2 application

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 Learning About Nested Loops
• Inner loop and outer loop
– An inner loop must be entirely contained in an outer loop
– Loops can never overlap
• To print three mailing labels for each of 20
customers:
for(customer = 1; customer <= 20; ++customer)
for(color = 1; color <= 3; ++color)
outputLabel ();

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 Learning About Nested Loops
(cont’d.)

Figure 6-23 Nested loops

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 Improving Loop Performance
• Make sure a loop does not include unnecessary
operations or statements
• Consider the order of evaluation for short-circuit
operators
• Make comparisons to 0
• Employ loop fusion

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 Avoiding Unnecessary Operations
• Do not use unnecessary operations or statements:
– Within a loop’s tested expression
– Within the loop body
• Avoid:
while (x < a + b)
// loop body
• Instead use:
int sum = a + b;
while(x < sum)
// loop body
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Considering the Order of Evaluation of
Short-Circuit Operators
• Short-circuit evaluation
– Each part of an AND or an OR expression is evaluated only
as much as necessary to determine the value of the
expression
• It’s important to consider the number of evaluations
that take place
– When a loop might execute many times

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 Comparing to Zero
• Making a comparison to 0 is faster than making a
comparison to any other value
• To improve loop performance, compare the loop
control variable to 0
• Do-nothing loop
– Performs no actions other than looping

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 Comparing to Zero (cont’d.)

Figure 6-27 The CompareLoops application

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 Employing Loop Fusion
• Loop fusion
– A technique of combining two loops into one
– Will not work in every situation

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 Using Prefix Incrementing Rather
than Postfix Incrementing
• Prefix incrementing method
– ++x
– When the method receives a reference to x, the value is increased and
the increased value is returned
• Postfix incrementing method
– x++
– When the method receives a reference to x, a copy of the value is
made and stored
– The value is incremented as indicated by the reference
– The copy is returned
– The extra time spent copying causes postfix incrementing to take
longer

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 Using Prefix Incrementing Rather
than Postfix Incrementing (cont’d.)

Figure 6-29 The CompareLoops2 program

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 You Do It
• Writing a Loop to Validate Data Entries
• Working with Prefix and Postfix Increment Operators
• Working with Definite Loops
• Working with Nested Loops
• Comparing Execution Times for Separate and Fused
Loops

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 Don’t Do It
• Don’t insert a semicolon at the end of a while
clause
• Don’t forget to block multiple statements that should
execute in a loop
• Don’t make the mistake of checking for invalid data
using a decision instead of a loop
• Don’t ignore subtleties in the boundaries used to
stop loop performance
• Don’t repeat steps within a loop that could just as
well be placed outside the loop
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 Summary
• The loop structure allows repeated execution of a
block of statements
– Infinite loop
– Definite loop
– Nest loop
• You must change the loop control variable within the
looping structure
• Use the while loop to execute statements while
some condition is true

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 Summary (cont’d.)
• Execute the while loop
– Initialize the loop control variable, test in the while
statement, and alter the loop control variable
• Prefix ++ and postfix ++
– Increase a variable’s value by 1
– The variable is used
• The result is calculated and stored
• Unary operators
– Use with one value

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 Summary (cont’d.)
• Binary operators
– Operate on two values
• Shortcut operators +=, -=, *=, and /=
– Perform operations and assign the result in one step
• for loop
– Initializes, tests, and increments in one statement
• do…while loop
– Tests a Boolean expression after one repetition
• Improve loop performance
– Do not include unnecessary operations or statements

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