1 The for loop

The for loop has another syntax which can be used to encapsulate while-like loops in a more compact way, which also has some advantages.

The syntax for this for loop is for({Initial Statements} ; {Condition} ; {Iteration Commands}) { ... }, where {Condition} is a boolean condition expression, and {Initial Statements} and {Iteration Commands} may contain one or more commands separated by commas.

When The interpreter encounters a for loop it executes its initial statements, and then executes the commands within its block for as long as the condition is met. {Iteration Commands} are executed at the end of each iteration.

The following simple example prints the mulitplication board:

for($row = 1 ; $row <= 10 ; $row++) { for($column = 1 ; $column <= 10 ; $column++) { $result = $row*$column; $pad = ( " " x (4-length($result)) ); print $pad, $result; } print "\n"; }