CHAPTER 4
CONTROL STRUCTURES (REPETITION
Objectives
In this chapter, you will: Learn about repetition (looping) control structures Explore how to construct and use countcontrolled, sentinel-controlled, flag-controlled, and EOF-controlled repetition structures Examine break and continue statements
Discover how to form and use nested control structures
while Looping (Repetition) Structure
The general form of the while statement is:
while is a reserved word
Statement can be simple or compound Expression acts as a decision maker and is usually a logical expression Statement is called the body of the loop The parentheses are part of the syntax
while Looping (Repetition) Structure (continued)
Infinite loop: continues to execute endlessly
Avoided by including statements in loop body that assure exit condition is eventually false
while Looping (Repetition) Structure (continued)
Example:
Case 1: Counter-Controlled while Loops
If you know exactly how many pieces of data need to be read, the while loop becomes a counter-controlled loop:
Case 2: Sentinel-Controlled while Loops
Sentinel variable is tested in the condition and loop ends when sentinel is encountered
Case 3: Flag-Controlled while Loops
A flag-controlled while loop uses a bool variable to control the loop The flag-controlled while loop takes the form:
Case 4: EOF-Controlled while Loops
Use an EOF (End Of File)-controlled while loop The logical value returned by cin can determine if the program has ended input
More on Expressions in while Statements
The expression in a while statement can be complex
For example:
while ((noOfGuesses < 5) && (!isGuessed)) {
for Looping (Repetition) Structure
The general form of the for statement is:
The initial statement, loop condition, and update statement are called for loop control statements
initial statement usually initializes a variable (called the for loop control, or for indexed, variable)
In C++, for is a reserved word
for Looping (Repetition) Structure (continued)
for Looping (Repetition) Structure (continued)
for Looping (Repetition) Structure (continued)
The output will be five lines of Hello and a line of * Without the loop block (curly braces), only the first statement will be considered for the loop.
for Looping (Repetition) Structure (continued)
C++ allows you to use fractional values for loop control variables of the double type
Results may differ
The following is a semantic error:
The following is a legal for loop:
for (;;) cout << "Hello" << endl;
for Looping (Repetition) Structure (continued)
dowhile Looping (Repetition) Structure
General form of a do...while:
The statement executes first, and then the expression is evaluated
To avoid an infinite loop, body must contain a statement that makes the expression false The statement can be simple or compound Loop always iterates at least once
dowhile Looping (Repetition) Structure (continued)
dowhile Looping (Repetition) Structure (continued)
dowhile Looping (Repetition) Structure (continued)
Choosing the Right Looping Structure
All three loops have their place in C++
If you know or can determine in advance the number of repetitions needed, the for loop is the correct choice If you do not know and cannot determine in advance the number of repetitions needed, and it could be zero, use a while loop If you do not know and cannot determine in advance the number of repetitions needed, and it is at least one, use a do...while loop
break and continue Statements
break and continue alter the flow of control break statement is used for two purposes:
To exit early from a loop
Can eliminate the use of certain (flag) variables
To skip the remainder of the switch structure
After the break statement executes, the program continues with the first statement after the structure
break & continue Statements
(continued)
continue is used in while, for, and dowhile structures When executed in a loop
It skips remaining statements and proceeds with the next iteration of the loop
Nested Control Structures
To create the following pattern:
* ** *** **** *****
We can use the following code:
for (i = 1; i <= 5 ; i++) { for (j = 1; j <= i; j++) cout << "*"; cout << endl; }
Nested Control Structures (continued)
What is the output of the following loops?
for (i = 5; i >= 1; i--) { for (j = 1; j <= i; j++) cout << "*"; cout << endl; }
Answer: ***** **** *** ** *
Summary
C++ has three looping (repetition) structures: while, for, and dowhile while, for, and do are reserved words while and for loops are called pretest loops do...while loop is called a posttest loop while and for may not execute at all, but do...while always executes at least once while: expression is the decision maker, and the statement is the body of the loop
Summary (continued)
A while loop can be: Counter-controlled Sentinel-controlled EOF-controlled In the Windows console environment, the end-of-file marker is entered using Ctrl+z for loop: simplifies the writing of a counter-controlled while loop
Executing a break statement in the body of a loop immediately terminates the loop Executing a continue statement in the body of a loop skips to the next iteration
Source: C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design, Fourth Edition
