Perl - For Loop

The for loop executes a set of statements in each iteration. Whenever, number of iteration is known, for loop is preferred over while loop.

Syntax

for(initialization(s); condition(s); counter_update(s);){
  statements;
}

Initialization(s): Variable(s) is initialized in this section and executed for one time only.
Condition(s): Condition(s) is defined in this section and executed at the start of loop everytime.
Counter Update(s): Loop counter(s) is updated in this section and executed at the end of loop everytime.

Flow Diagram:

Example:

In the example below, the program continue to print variable called i from value 1 to 5. After that, it exits from the for loop.

for ($i = 1; $i <= 5; $i++){
  print("i = $i \n"); 
}

The output of the above code will be:

i = 1 
i = 2 
i = 3 
i = 4 
i = 5

Example

Multiple initializations, condition checks and loop counter updates can be performed in a single for loop. In the example below, two variable called i and j are initialized, multiple conditions are checked and multiple variables are updated in a single for loop.

for ($i = 1, $j = 100; $i <= 5 || $j <= 800; $i++, $j = $j + 100){
  print("i=$i, j=$j \n"); 
}

The output of the above code will be:

i=1, j=100 
i=2, j=200 
i=3, j=300 
i=4, j=400 
i=5, j=500 
i=6, j=600 
i=7, j=700 
i=8, j=800

for loop over a range

A for loop can be applied over a range and each element of the range can be accessed using topic variable $_.

Example

In the example below, for loop is applied over a range to print its content.

for (1..5){
  print("$_ \n"); 
}

The output of the above code will be: