Introduction to Programming in C++

Seventh Edition

Chapter 7:
The Repetition Structure
 Objectives

• Differentiate between a pretest loop and a posttest loop

• Include a pretest loop in pseudocode
• Include a pretest loop in a flowchart
• Code a pretest loop using the C++ while statement
• Utilize counter and accumulator variables
• Code a pretest loop using the C++ for statement

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 Repeating Program Instructions

• The repetition structure, or loop, processes one or

more instructions repeatedly
• Every loop contains a Boolean condition that controls
whether the instructions are repeated
• A looping condition says whether to continue looping
through instructions
• A loop exit condition says whether to stop looping
through the instructions
• Every looping condition can be expressed as a loop exit
condition (its opposite)

An Introduction to Programming with C++, Seventh Edition 3

 Repeating Program Instructions
(cont’d.)
• C++ uses looping conditions in repetition structures
• A repetition structure can be pretest or posttest
• In a pretest loop, the condition is evaluated before the
instructions in the loop are processed
• In a posttest loop, the condition is evaluated after the
instructions in the loop are processed
• In both cases, the condition is evaluated with each
repetition

An Introduction to Programming with C++, Seventh Edition 4

 Repeating Program Instructions
(cont’d.)
• The instructions in a posttest loop will always be
processed at least once
• Instructions in a pretest loop may not be processed if
the condition initially evaluates to false
• The repeatable instructions in a loop are called the loop
body
• The condition in a loop must evaluate to a Boolean
value

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 Repeating Program Instructions
(cont’d.)

Figure 7-1 A problem that requires the sequence

and selection structures

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 Repeating Program Instructions
(cont’d.)

Figure 7-2 A problem that requires the

sequence and repetition structures
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 Using a Pretest Loop to Solve a Real-
World Problem
• Most loops have a condition and a loop body
• Some loops require the user to enter a special sentinel
value to end the loop
• Sentinel values should be easily distinguishable from
the valid data recognized by the program
• When a loop’s condition evaluates to true, the
instructions in the loop body are processed
• Otherwise, the instructions are skipped and processing
continues with the first instruction after the loop

An Introduction to Programming with C++, Seventh Edition 8

 Using a Pretest Loop to Solve a Real-
World Problem (cont.)
• After each processing of the loop body (iteration), the
loop’s condition is reevaluated to determine if the
instructions should be processed again
• A priming read is an instruction that appears before a
loop and is used to set up the loop with an initial value
entered by the user
• An update read is an instruction that appears within a
loop that allows the user to enter a new value at each
iteration of the loop

An Introduction to Programming with C++, Seventh Edition 9

 Using a Pretest Loop to Solve a Real-
World Problem (cont’d.)

Figure 7-4 Problem specification and IPO chart

for the Totally Sweet Shoppe program

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 Using a Pretest Loop to Solve a Real-
World Problem (cont’d.)

Figure 7-5 Problem specification and IPO chart for the Wheels & More program
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 Using a Pretest Loop to Solve a Real-
World Problem (cont’d.)

Figure 7-6 Components of the Wheels & More algorithm

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 Flowcharting a Pretest Loop

• The diamond symbol in a flowchart is the decision

symbol – represents repetition structures
• A diamond representing a repetition structure contains
a Boolean condition
• The condition determines whether the instructions in
the loop are processed
• A diamond representing a repetition structure has one
flowline leading into it and two leading out

An Introduction to Programming with C++, Seventh Edition 13

 Flowcharting a Pretest Loop (cont’d.)

• The flowlines leading out are marked “T” (true) and “F”
(false)
• The “T” line points to the loop body
• The “F” line points to the instructions to be processed if
the loop’s condition evaluates to false
• The flowline entering the diamond and symbols and
flowlines of the true path form a circle, or loop
• This distinguishes a repetition structure from a
selection structure in a flowchart

An Introduction to Programming with C++, Seventh Edition 14

 Flowcharting a Pretest Loop (cont’d.)

Figure 7-7 Wheels & More algorithm shown in flowchart form

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 The while Statement

• You can use the while statement to code a pretest

loop in C++
• Syntax is:
while (condition)
one statement or a statement block to be processed as
long as the condition is true
• Must supply looping condition (Boolean expression)
• condition can contain constants, variables, functions,
arithmetic operators, comparison operators, and logical
operators

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 The while Statement (cont’d.)

• Must also provide loop body statements, which are

processed repeatedly as long as condition is true
• If more than one statement in loop body, must be
entered as a statement block (enclosed in braces)
• Can include braces even if there is only one statement
in the statement block
• Good programming practice to include a comment,
such as //end while, to mark the end of the while
statement

An Introduction to Programming with C++, Seventh Edition 17

 The while Statement (cont’d.)

• A loop whose instructions are processed indefinitely is

called an infinite loop or endless loop
• You can usually stop a program that has entered an
infinite loop by pressing Ctrl+c

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 The while Statement (cont’d.)

Figure 7-13 How to use the while statement

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 Using Counters and Accumulators

• Some problems require you to calculate a total or

average
• To do this, you use a counter, accumulator, or both
• A counter is a numeric variable used for counting
something
• An accumulator is a numeric variable used for
accumulating (adding together) multiple values
• Two tasks are associated with counters and
accumulators: initializing and updating

An Introduction to Programming with C++, Seventh Edition 20

 Using Counters and Accumulators
(cont’d.)
• Initializing means assigning a beginning value to a
counter or accumulator (usually 0) – happens once,
before the loop is processed
• Updating (or incrementing) means adding a number to
the value of a counter or accumulator
• A counter is updated by a constant value (usually 1)
• An accumulator is updated by a value that varies
• Update statements are placed in the body of a loop
since they must be performed at each iteration

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 The Sales Express Program

• Example problem and program solution (following

slides)
– Program takes in a sequence of sales amounts from the
keyboard and outputs their average
– Uses a counter to keep track of the number of sales
entered and an accumulator to keep track of the total
sales
– Both are initialized to 0
– The loop ends when the user enters a sentinel value (-1)

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 The Sales Express Program (cont’d.)

Figure 7-17 IPO chart information and C++

instructions for the Sales Express program
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 The Sales Express Program (cont’d.)

Figure 7-17 IPO chart information and C++

instructions for the Sales Express program (cont’d)

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 The Sales Express Program (cont’d.)

Figure 7-18 Flowchart for the Sales Express program

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 Counter-Controlled Pretest Loops

• Loops can be controlled using a counter rather than a

sentinel value
• These are called counter-controlled loops
• Example problem and program solution (following
slides)
– Counter-controlled loop is used that totals the quarterly
sales from three regions
– Loop repeats three times, once for each region, using a
counter to keep track

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 Counter-Controlled Pretest Loops
(cont’d.)

Figure 7-25 Problem specification for the Jasper Music Company program

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 Counter-Controlled Pretest Loops
(cont’d.)

Figure 7-25 IPO chart information and C++

instructions for the Jasper Music Company program
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 Counter-Controlled Pretest Loops
(cont’d.)

Figure 7-26 Flowchart for the Jasper Music Company program

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 The for Statement

• The for statement can also be used to code any

pretest loop in C++
• Commonly used to code counter-controlled pretest
loops (more compact than while in this case)
• Syntax:
for ([initialization]; condition; [update])
one statement or a statement block to be
processed as long as condition is true
• initialization and update arguments are optional

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 The for Statement (cont’d.)

• initialization argument usually creates and initializes a

counter variable
• Counter variable is local to for statement (can only be
used inside the loop)
• condition argument specifies condition that must be
true for the loop body to be processed
• condition must be a Boolean expression
– May contain variables, constants, functions, arithmetic
operators, comparison operators, and logical operators

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 The for Statement (cont’d.)

• Loop ends when condition evaluates to false

• update argument usually contains an expression that
updates the counter variable
• Loop body follows the for clause
– Must be placed in braces if it contains more than one
statement
– Braces can be used even if the loop body contains only
one statement
• Good programming practice to place a comment, such
as //end for, to mark the end of a for loop

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 The for Statement (cont’d.)

Figure 7-32 How to use the for statement

An Introduction to Programming with C++, Seventh Edition 33
 The for Statement (cont’d.)

Figure 7-33 Processing steps for the code

shown in Example 1 in Figure 7-32

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 The Holmes Supply Program

• Extended example of a problem and program solution

(following slides)
– Program totals up the sales from three stores using a
for loop

Figure 7-34 Problem specification for the

Holmes Supply Company program

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 The Holmes Supply Program (cont’d.)

Figure 7-34 IPO chart information and C++

instructions for the Holmes Supply Company program
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 Summary

• Use the repetition structure (or loop) to repeatedly

process one or more instructions
• Loop repeats as long as looping condition is true (or
until loop exit condition has been met)
• A repetition structure can be pretest or posttest
• In a pretest loop, the loop condition is evaluated before
instructions in loop body are processed
• In a posttest loop, the evaluation occurs after
instructions in loop body are processed

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 Summary (cont’d.)

• Condition appears at the beginning of a pretest loop –

must be a Boolean expression
• If condition evaluates to true, the instructions in the
loop body are processed; otherwise, the loop body
instructions are skipped
• Some loops require the user to enter a special sentinel
value to end the loop
• Sentinel values should be easily distinguishable from
valid data recognized by the program
• Other loops are terminated by using a counter

An Introduction to Programming with C++, Seventh Edition 38

 Summary (cont’d.)

• Input instruction that appears above a pretest loop’s

condition is the priming read
– Sets up the loop by getting first value from user
• Input instruction that appears within the loop is the
update read
– Gets the remaining values (if any) from user
• In most flowcharts, diamond (decision symbol) is used
to represent a repetition structure’s condition

An Introduction to Programming with C++, Seventh Edition 39

 Summary (cont’d.)

• Counters and accumulators are used in repetition

structures to calculate totals and averages
• All counters and accumulators must be initialized and
updated
• Counters are updated by a constant value
• Accumulators are updated by a variable amount
• You can use either the while statement or the for
statement to code a pretest loop in C++

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