The C++ Language

Loops

Loops

! Recall that a loop is another of the four basic

programming language structures
– Repeat statements until some condition is false.

False …
Condition Tr
ue

Statement1

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 Loops in C++

! The while loop in C++ is the most generic form

! Syntax

while (Expression)
Statement

! Semantics
– Executes Statement as long as Expression evaluates to true

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While Loop (Example)

! Recall from our Giving Change Algorithm 1

2.2 If the value of change is >= 100, then perform the
following steps.
2.2.1 Add 1 to the value of dollars.
2.2.2 Subtract 100 from the value of change.
2.2.3 Repeat step 2.2
! This is a loop!

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 While Loop (Example)
const int ONE_DOLLAR = 100; // one dollar in cents

int dollars = 0; // number of dollars in change

int change = -1; // the amount of change

cin >> change;

while (change >= ONE_DOLLAR)

{
dollars = dollars + 1;
change = change - ONE_DOLLAR;
}

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Kinds of Loops

! Event Controlled Loop

– Executes until a specified situation
! Describes all types of loops
! Count Controlled Loop
– Executes a specified number of times
! Sentinel Controlled Loop
– Executes until a dummy value is encountered in the
input

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 Event Controlled Loop (Example)
int high = 20;
int low = 0;

while (low < high)

{
low = low + 3;
high = high - 2;
}
What is output?

cout << "Low: " << low << "High: " << high << endl;

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Count Controlled Loop (Example)

int numGrades = -1; 7 87 99 82 74 83 88 90 80
int numRead = 0;
int grade = 0, total = 0;

cout << "Enter the number of grades to read: " << flush;
cin >> numGrades;
while (numRead < numGrades)
{
cin >> grade;
total = total + grade;
numRead = numRead + 1;
}
if (numRead > 0)
cout << "Your average is " << (total * 1.0) / numRead
<< endl;
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 Sentinel Controlled Loop
const int SENTINEL = -1; 87 99 82 74 83 88 90 -1 80
int numRead = 0;
int grade = 0, total = 0;

cout << "Enter grades or " << SENTINEL << " to quit." << endl;
cin >> grade; // priming read
while (grade != SENTINEL)
{
total = total + grade;
numRead = numRead + 1;
cin >> grade; // read the next grade
}
if (numRead > 0)
cout << "Your average is " << (total * 1.0) / numRead
<< endl;
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Exercises
! Write a loop to do the following:
1. Read in 10 integers.
2. Find the maximum value.
3. Find the minimum value.
! Hints
– Don't store all 10 values at once, calculate the
maximum/minimum so far as you go.
– Use INT_MIN and INT_MAX to initialize maximum/minimum
value so far.
! Trace using the following input.
30 -209 45 827 -93 101 -445 79 827 83

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 Input Failure

! Each input stream (e.g., cin or input file stream) has a

state
– The state is good if every operation has succeeded
– The state is bad if some operation has failed
! Couldn't open a file
! Couldn't read in a value of the expected type
! Couldn't find delimiting character for ignore or getline
! We can test input streams for their state
– true is good
– false is bad

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Input Failure (If Example)

! Use the stream variable as part of a boolean
expression
ifstream In;
In.open("Data.txt");
if (In)
{
cout << "The file opened properly." << endl;
}
else
{
cout << "The file was not opened." << endl;
}

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 Input Failure (If Example)

! Suppose we try to read an integer, but no integer is

there.

int age = -1; Age 23

In >> age;
if (!In)
{
// could not read the age, age still has the value -1
cout << "The age couldn't be read." << endl;
}

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Reading until Input Failure

! A common method for reading input is to read

until there is an input failure
– Occurs when you read the end of the file
! Read data one set at a time
– Always leave the read marker at the beginning of
the next set.

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 Read until Input Failure
(Correct Example)
const char DELIMITER = '|';
string name = ""; Joe Missouri|32
int age = -1; Sally White|27
Missy Green|24
ifstream In("Data.txt");

// Priming read for one data set

getline(In, name, DELIMITER);
In >> age; There's an invisible
In.ignore(INT_MAX, '\n'); end of file character
here.
while (In)
{
cout << "Name: " << name << "\tAge: " << age << endl;
// Read the next data set
getline(In, name, DELIMITER);
In >> age; Name: Joe Missouri Age: 32
In.ignore(INT_MAX, '\n'); Name: Sally White Age: 27
} Name: Missy Green Age: 24

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Read until Input Failure

(Incorrect Example)
const char DELIMITER = '|'; Joe Missouri|32
string name = ""; Sally White|27
int age = -1; Missy Green|24

ifstream In("Data.txt");

Name: Joe Missouri Age: 32

Name: Sally White Age: 27
// No priming read
Name: Missy Green Age: 24
while (In)
{
Name: Missy Green Age: 24
// Read a data set
getline(In, name, DELIMITER);
In >> age;
In.ignore(INT_MAX, '\n');

cout << "Name: " << name << "\tAge: " << age << endl;
}

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 Recovering from Input Failure

! When input failure occurs, you cannot read

anything else until you reset the state of the
stream
! Use the clear() function for input streams
! Syntax
InputStreamVariable.clear();

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Recovering from Input Failure

(Example)
ifstream In("Data.txt");
int anInt = -1; 25 15 30 45 Michael Jordan
int total = 0;
// read integers and total them
In >> anInt;
while (In) {
total = total + anInt;
In >> anInt;
}
// read the name that follows the integers
// Note that final extraction does skip the whitespace!
string name = "";
In.clear(); // reset the flags
getline(In, name);

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 Exercise

! Modify your minimum and maximum

calculations to read until input failure instead of
reading a fixed number of integers.
! Trace through your code with the input
205 -90 -103 199 76 823 -205 133 144 150

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End-Of-File Handling

! Input streams support the eof()function

– true if last input operation read end-of-file mark
– false if last input operation did not read end-of-file
mark
! Syntax

InputStreamVariable.eof()

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 End-Of-File Example
int anInt = 0; Input
char c = '\0';
ifstream In("Input.txt"); 1 With newline
2
In >> anInt; 3
In.get(c);
while (!In.eof())
{
cout << anInt << endl; 1 Without newline
2
In >> anInt;
3
In.get(c);
}

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Other Loops

! C++ provides alternative syntax for loops

– for loops
– do … while loops
! These alternatives can always be rewritten as
while loops
– Syntatic sugar

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 For Loops
! A for loop is the preferred syntax for count controlled
loops.
! Syntax
for (Initialization; TestExpression; Update)
Statement

! Initialization is often used to initialize variables

! TestExpression determines loop termination
! Update executes once an iteration
– Updates values used in test expression

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For Loop (Example)

int total = 0; int x;
int x = 0; int total = 0;

while (x < 10) for (x = 0; x < 10; x = x + 1)

{ total = total + x;
total = total + x;
x = x + 1;
}

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 Increment and Decrement

! post-increment (++) and post-decrement (--)

operators are used frequently with for loops
! Examples
i++; // i = i + 1;
i--; // i = i - 1;

! Can be used in expressions, but should be

avoided for readability.

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For Loop and Increment (Example)

int numGrades = -1; 7 87 99 82 74 83 88 90 80
int numRead = 0;
int grade = 0, total = 0;

cout << "Enter the number of grades to read: " << flush;
cin >> numGrades;
for (numRead = 0; numRead < numGrades; numRead++)
{
cin >> grade;
total = total + grade;
}
if (numRead > 0)
cout << "Your average is " << (total * 1.0) / numRead
<< endl;

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 For Loop and Decrement (Example)
const char STAR='*'; // what to draw
int numPrint;

cout << "How many stars do you want to print? " << flush;
for (cin >> numPrint; numPrint > 0; numPrint--)
cout << STAR;

cout << endl;

Notice the use of
an input
statement here!

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Pitfall

! Be careful about identifying the statements be

executed in the for loop
const char STAR='*'; // what to draw
int numPrint;

cout << "How many stars do you want to print? " << flush;
for (cin >> numPrint; numPrint > 0; numPrint--)
cout << STAR;
cout << endl;
Only printing the stars
is in the loop.
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 Pitfall

! Also, watch for extraneous semicolons

const char STAR='*'; // what to draw
int numPrint;

cout << "How many stars do you want to print? " << flush;
for (cin >> numPrint; numPrint > 0; numPrint--);
{
cout << STAR;
} One star will
cout << endl; always be printed!

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Do…While Loop

! Use the do…while loop when you are

guaranteed to execute at least once.
! Flow
False
Statement1 Condition

! Syntax True
do
Statement1
while (Condition);
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 Do…While Example

! Require the user to enter a non-negative age

! While solution
cout << "Enter your age: ";
cin >> age;
while (age < 0)
{
cout << "Your age must be at least 0." << endl;
cout << "Enter your age: ";
cin >> age;
}

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Do … While Example

! Do … While solution
do
{
cout << "Enter your age: ";
cin >> age;
if (age < 0)
cout << "Your age must be at least 0" << endl;
} while (age < 0);

The semicolon is
required here!

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 Exercises

! Programming Warm-Up exercises 6, 7, 8, 9 in

Chapter 9 on page 488.
! Convert the while loop on slide 15 to a
do…while loop. Which implementation would
you prefer to use and why?

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Nested Loops

! Loops can be nested Why?

cin >> starCount;
while (cin)
{
for (stars = 0; stars < starCount; stars++)
{
cout << '*';
}
cout << endl;
Read pages 296-203
cin >> starCount;
}

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 Other Control Statements

! Two other control statements

– break
– continue
! Change control flow in loops and switch
statements

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Break Statement

! Stops executing the innermost loop containing

the break statement
! Flow (while loop)
False …
Condition Tr
ue

Statement1

break;
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 Break Example

! Loop testing for input failure and sentinel

const int SENTINEL = -1; 1 2 3 -1 4 5 6
cin >> anInt;
while (In)
{
if (anInt == SENTINEL)
break;
cout << anInt << endl;
cin >> anInt;
}

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Better implementation
const int SENTINEL = -1;

cin >> anInt;

while (In && anInt != SENTINEL)
{
cout << anInt << endl;
cin >> anInt; Why is this
}
considered
better?

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 Continue Statement

! Skips the rest of an iteration

! Flow (while loop)
False …
Condition Tr
ue

Statement3 Statement1

continue;

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Continue Example
! Total positive values
const int SENTINEL = 0; 1 -2 3 0 4 5 6
int valEntered = -1, total = 0;

while (valEntered != 0)
{
cout << "Enter a positive value or "
<< SENTINEL << " to quit: " << flush;
cin >> valEntered;
if (valEntered < 0)
continue;
total = total + valEntered;
}

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 Better Implementation
const int SENTINEL = 0;
int valEntered = -1, total = 0;

while (valEntered != 0)
{
cout << "Enter a positive value or "
<< SENTINEL << " to quit: " << flush;
cin >> valEntered;
if (valEntered > 0)
total = total + valEntered;
}

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Continue Statement

! Skips to the bottom of the loop

– Update statement is executed in for loops
– Condition check is evaluated in do…while loops

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