while Statement (C)
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The latest version of this topic can be found at while Statement (C).
The while
statement lets you repeat a statement until a specified expression becomes false.
Syntax
iteration-statement:
while ( expression ) statement
The expression must have arithmetic or pointer type. Execution proceeds as follows:
The expression is evaluated.
If expression is initially false, the body of the
while
statement is never executed, and control passes from thewhile
statement to the next statement in the program.If expression is true (nonzero), the body of the statement is executed and the process is repeated beginning at step 1.
The while
statement can also terminate when a break, goto
, or return
within the statement body is executed. Use the continue statement to terminate an iteration without exiting the while
loop. The continue statement passes control to the next iteration of the while
statement.
This is an example of the while
statement:
while ( i >= 0 )
{
string1[i] = string2[i];
i--;
}
This example copies characters from string2
to string1
. If i
is greater than or equal to 0, string2[i]
is assigned to string1[i]
and i
is decremented. When i
reaches or falls below 0, execution of the while
statement terminates.