while loop

Executes a statement repeatedly, until the value of condition becomes false. The test takes place before each iteration.

Syntax

Notes

If statement is a single statement (not a compound statement), the scope of variables declared in it is limited to the while loop as if it was a compound statement, in other words,

while(--x >= 0)
    int i;
// i goes out of scope

is the same as.

while(--x >= 0) {
    int i;
} // i goes out of scope

If condition is a declaration such as T t = x, the declared variable is only in scope in the body of the loop, and is destroyed and recreated on every iteration, in other words, such while loop is equivalent to.

label:
{ // start of condition scope
    T t = x;
    if (t) {
        statement
        goto label; // calls the destructor of t
    }
}

If the execution of the loop needs to be terminated at some point, break statement can be used as terminating statement.

If the execution of the loop needs to be continued at the end of the loop body, continue statement can be used as shortcut.

Keywords

while.

Example

#include <iostream>
 
int main()
{
    // while loop with a single statement
    int i = 0;
    while (i < 10)
         i++;
    std::cout << i << '\n';
 
    // while loop with a compound statement
    int j = 2;
    while (j < 9) {
        std::cout << j << ' ';
        j += 2;
    }
    std::cout << '\n';
 
   // while loop with a declaration condition
   char cstr[] = "Hello";
   int k = 0;
   while(char c = cstr[k++])
       std::cout << c;
   std::cout << '\n';
}

10
2 4 6 8 
Hello

See also