C for loop

The for loop is a control structure that allows you to repeatedly execute a block of code a specific number of times. It is one of the three main types of loops in C, along with the while loop and the do-while loop. The for loop is commonly used when you know the exact number of iterations needed. The syntax of a for loop is as follows:

for (initialization; condition; increment/decrement) {
    // Code to be executed in each iteration
}

Here’s how a for loop works:

1. Initialization: The loop starts with the initialization step. Here, you typically declare and initialize a loop control variable. This variable is used to keep track of the loop’s progress.
2. Condition: After initialization, the condition is evaluated. If the condition is true, the loop’s body is executed; otherwise, the loop terminates.
3. Loop Body: The code inside the loop body is executed if the condition is true. This is where you place the code that should be repeated.
4. Increment/Decrement: After executing the loop body, the increment or decrement statement is executed. This step typically updates the loop control variable.
5. Repeat: Steps 2 to 4 are repeated until the condition becomes false. When the condition is false, the loop terminates, and program execution continues with the code after the for loop.

Here’s an example of a simple for loop that counts from 1 to 5 and prints the values:

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    for (int i = 1; i <= 5; i++) {
        printf("%d\n", i);
    }
    return 0;
}

In this example:

• The loop control variable i is initialized to 1.
• The condition i <= 5 is checked before each iteration.
• The loop body prints the value of i.
• The i variable is incremented by 1 in each iteration (i++).

The output of this program will be:

1
2
3
4
5

You can use for loops for various purposes, including iterating over arrays, generating sequences of numbers, and performing repetitive tasks with a known number of iterations.