- Build a
for
loop. - Build a
while
loop. - Explain the purpose of a loop.
- Understand when to use each type of loop.
Sometimes, we need to do things repeatedly. Let's say we have a bunch of gifts to wrap. They all happen to be the same size and shape, so for every gift, we need to cut a similarly sized piece of wrapping paper, fold it up over the edges of the gift, tape it together, and add a nice little card. Then we set the wrapped gift aside and moved onto the next gift.
In programming terms, we can think of our collection of gifts as an array and the act of wrapping them as a function. For example:
const gifts = ['teddy bear', 'drone', 'doll'];
function wrapGift(gift) {
console.log(`Wrapped ${gift} and added a bow!`);
}
We could then call wrapGift()
on each gift individually:
wrapGift(gifts[0]);
wrapGift(gifts[1]);
wrapGift(gifts[2]);
However, this isn't very efficient or extensible. It's a lot of repetitive code to write out, and if we had more gifts we'd have to write a whole new line for each.
This is where loops come in handy! With a loop, we can just write the repeated action once and perform the action on every item in the collection.
Loops are used to execute the same block of code a specified number of times. In
JavaScript, loops come in a few different flavors, but the main two are for
and while
loops.
This is a code-along, so follow along with the instructions in each section. There are tests to make sure you're coding your solutions correctly.
Of the loops in JavaScript, the for
loop is the most common. The for
loop is
made up of four statements in the following structure:
for ([initialization]; [condition]; [iteration]) {
[loop body]
}
- Initialization
- Typically used to initialize a counter variable.
- Condition
- An expression evaluated before each pass through the loop. If this expression
evaluates to
true
, the statements in the loop body are executed. If the expression evaluates tofalse
, the loop exits.
- An expression evaluated before each pass through the loop. If this expression
evaluates to
- Iteration
- A statement executed at the end of each iteration. Typically, this will involve incrementing or decrementing a counter, bringing the loop ever closer to completion. - Loop body
- Code that runs on each pass through the loop.
Usage: Use a for
loop when you know exactly how many times you want the loop to run
(for example, when you have an array of known size).
The code below will announce our next ten birthdays:
for (let age = 30; age < 40; age++) {
console.log(`I'm ${age} years old. Happy birthday to me!`);
}
// LOG: I'm 30 years old. Happy birthday to me!
// LOG: I'm 31 years old. Happy birthday to me!
// LOG: I'm 32 years old. Happy birthday to me!
// LOG: I'm 33 years old. Happy birthday to me!
// LOG: I'm 34 years old. Happy birthday to me!
// LOG: I'm 35 years old. Happy birthday to me!
// LOG: I'm 36 years old. Happy birthday to me!
// LOG: I'm 37 years old. Happy birthday to me!
// LOG: I'm 38 years old. Happy birthday to me!
// LOG: I'm 39 years old. Happy birthday to me!
In the above code, let age = 30
is the initialization, as we create a
variable, age
, that we'll use in the next three phases of the loop. Notice
that we use let
instead of const
because we need to increment the value of
age
.
The condition for the above loop is age < 40
, or, in other words, "Run the
code in the loop body until age
is NOT less than 40
." As long as the
condition evaluates to true
, execute the code in the loop body, increment the
value of age
, and then reevaluate the condition. As soon as the condition
evaluates to false
, exit the loop.
The iteration is age++
, which increments the value of age
by 1
after
every pass through the loop. We initialized age
as 30
, and it retains that
value during the first pass through the loop. At the end of the first pass, we
increment age
to 31
, check whether the condition still holds true
, and,
since it does, run the loop body again with age
as 31
. After that second
loop, we increment age
to 32
, and so on.
The loop body is the set of statements that we want to run when the
condition evaluates to true
.
for
loops are often used to iterate over every element in an array. Let's
rewrite our gift-wrapping action above as a for
loop:
const gifts = ['teddy bear', 'drone', 'doll'];
function wrapGifts(gifts) {
for (let i = 0; i < gifts.length; i++) {
console.log(`Wrapped ${gifts[i]} and added a bow!`);
}
return gifts;
}
wrapGifts(gifts);
// LOG: Wrapped teddy bear and added a bow!
// LOG: Wrapped drone and added a bow!
// LOG: Wrapped doll and added a bow!
// => ["teddy bear", "drone", "doll"]
We started our counter, i
, at 0
because arrays have zero-based indexes. Our
condition states that we should run the code in the loop body while i
is less
than gifts.length
(3
in the above example). Our iteration, i++
, increments
our counter by 1
at the end of each pass through the loop. In our loop body,
notice that we reference gifts[i]
. Since i
starts out as 0
, during the
first pass through the loop gifts[i]
is gifts[0]
is 'teddy bear'
. During
the second pass through the loop, gifts[i]
is gifts[1]
is 'drone'
. And
during the final pass through the loop, gifts[i]
is gifts[2]
is 'doll'
.
After the third pass through the loop, we increment i
to 3
, which is no
longer less than gifts.length
. Our condition evaluates to false
, and we exit
the loop.
We'll encounter for
loops again when we learn about iterating through object
literals.
We're going to print out some welcome badges for new Flatbook employees. Build a
function named printBadges()
that accepts one argument, an array of employee
names. Create a for
loop with a counter that starts at 0
and increments at
the end of each loop. The condition should halt the for
loop after the last
name in the array is printed out in the loop body.
Inside the loop, use console.log()
to print out a badge for each employee, as
follows:
printBadges(['Ada', 'Brendan', 'Ali']);
// LOG: Welcome Ada! You are employee #1.
// LOG: Welcome Brendan! You are employee #2.
// LOG: Welcome Ali! You are employee #3.
// => ["Ada", "Brendan", "Ali"]
After the loop completes, have the function return the original array.
The while
loop is similar to a for
loop in that it will keep looping as long
as the condition evaluates to true
. However, the idea behind a for
loop is
that it should loop a set number of times (e.g., start with i = 0
and loop
while i < 25
). A while
loop, on the other hand, is designed to loop an
indefinite amount of times — it should keep looping while the condition is
true
or, said differently, until the condition is false
. There isn't a
definite limit like "25 times" placed upon it.
A while
loop has the following structure:
while ([condition]) {
[loop body]
}
Usage: A while
loop is best used when we don't know how many times a loop needs to
run. Often, this is because the condition depends on a dynamic value.
function maybeTrue() {
return Math.random() >= 0.5;
}
while (maybeTrue()) {
console.log('And I ran... I ran so far away!');
}
In this example, maybeTrue()
returns true
half the time and false
half the
time. Our loop runs until maybeTrue()
returns false
, so, theoretically, the
body of the loop might never run (if the first evaluation of maybeTrue()
returns false
) or it might run forever (if maybeTrue()
goes on an incredible
streak with Math.random()
never returning anything below 0.5
). We've used a
while
loop because we don't have any specific number to count up or down to in
our loop; we just want it to run until the condition is no longer met.
We can also use a while
loop in place of a for
loop. We just have to
remember to make sure the condition updates with each pass through the loop so
that the loop eventually terminates. Otherwise, it'll run forever, and we'll
have to throw our overheating computer out the window and buy a new one. Here's
an example of a while
loop with a defined exit strategy:
let countdown = 10;
while (countdown > 0) {
console.log(--countdown);
}
We're going to create a little game for our Flatbook users to play when they're
bored. Create a function named tailsNeverFails()
that takes no arguments. In
the function body, use a while
loop with a condition that simulates a coin
flip (two equally likely outcomes). For inspiration, check out the maybeTrue()
example above.
If the Math.random()
evaluates to greater than or equal to 0.5
, the coin
landed on 'Tails' and is flipped again. If the Math.random()
evaluates to less
than 0.5
, the coin landed on 'Heads', and the 'Tails' streak is broken. At the
end of the function, return
a message to the user indicating how many times
the coin landed on 'Tails' in a row, e.g.:
tailsNeverFails();
// => "You got 3 tails in a row!"
tailsNeverFails();
// => "You got 0 tails in a row!"
tailsNeverFails();
// => "You got 5 tails in a row!"
If you're feeling a bit lost about when to use a for
vs. a while
loop, take
a deep breath. Most of the time, a regular for
loop will suffice. It's by far
the most common looping construct in JavaScript. A general heuristic for
choosing which loop to use is to first try a for
loop. If that doesn't serve
your purposes, then go ahead and try a while
or do...while
loop. Also, remember that you can always refer to the documentation on these
loops at any time. After some time programming in
JavaScript, writing a for
loop will come as naturally to you as wrapping one
gift after another.
- Codecademy
- MDN
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