PHP Looping - While Loops

Loops execute a block of code a specified number of times, or while a specified condition is true.

PHP Loops

Often when you write code, you want the same block of code to run over and over again in a row. Instead of adding several almost equal lines in a script we can use loops to perform a task like this.
In PHP, we have the following looping statements:

• while - loops through a block of code while a specified condition is true
• do...while - loops through a block of code once, and then repeats the loop as long as a specified condition is true
• for - loops through a block of code a specified number of times
• foreach - loops through a block of code for each element in an array

The while Loop

The while loop executes a block of code while a condition is true.

Syntax

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while (condition) { code to be executed; }

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Example

The example below defines a loop that starts with i=1. The loop will continue to run as long as i is less than, or equal to 5. i will increase by 1 each time the loop runs:

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Output:

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The number is 1
The number is 2
The number is 3
The number is 4
The number is 5

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The do...while Statement

The do...while statement will always execute the block of code once, it will then check the condition, and repeat the loop while the condition is true.

Syntax

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do { code to be executed;
} while (condition);

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Example

The example below defines a loop that starts with i=1. It will then increment i with 1, and write some output. Then the condition is checked, and the loop will continue to run as long as i is less than, or equal to 5:

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Output:

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The number is 2
The number is 3
The number is 4
The number is 5
The number is 6

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