Iteration

Understanding Iteration

Iteration

• Iteration refers to the process of repeating a set of instructions in a program until a certain condition is met.
• Iteration is a powerful concept that allows programmers to simplify complex tasks and avoid redundancy.

Types of Iteration

• There are two types of iteration or loops - definite and indefinite loops.
• A definite loop has a fixed number of iterations decided before the loop starts. It will repeat a set number of times.
• An indefinite loop continues indefinitely until a specific condition is met and the loop is interrupted or stopped.

While and Do-While loops

• The while loop is an example of an indefinite loop. It repeatedly executes a block of code as long as a specified condition is true.
• The do-while loop is similar to the while loop but it guarantees that the loop block will be executed at least once, since it checks the condition at the end of the loop.

For loop

• The for loop is a type of definite loop. It is used when we already know how many times we want to iterate or loop through a block of code.
• The for loop includes three parts: initialization (where we initialize our counter variable), condition (which is checked before each iteration), and the increment/decrement of the counter variable.

The Break and Continue Statements

• The break statement immediately terminates the loop.
• The continue statement skips the remaining code in the current iteration and jumps to the next iteration of the loop.

Nested Loops

• A nested loop is a loop within another loop. They are used for tasks that require more complex repetition structures.
• Be careful with nested loops, as they can significantly slow down your program if not used sensibly.

Key Takeaway

• Iteration is a critical programming concept that allows us to efficiently repeat tasks. Proper understanding and use of different types of loops is crucial to writing effective code.