While loops don't require a code block (statement).
<?php
while( ++$i < 10 ); // look ma, no brackets!
echo $i; // 10
?>
while
(PHP 4, PHP 5, PHP 7, PHP 8)
I cicli while
sono i più semplici tipi di loop in PHP.
Questi cicli si comportano esattamente come nel C.
La forma base di un'istruzione while
è:
while (expr) statement
The meaning of a while
statement is simple. It
tells PHP to execute the nested statement(s) repeatedly, as long
as the while
expression evaluates to
true
. The value of the expression is checked
each time at the beginning of the loop, so even if this value
changes during the execution of the nested statement(s), execution
will not stop until the end of the iteration (each time PHP runs
the statements in the loop is one iteration). Sometimes, if the
while
expression evaluates to
false
from the very beginning, the nested
statement(s) won't even be run once.
Like with the if
statement, you can group
multiple statements within the same while
loop
by surrounding a group of statements with curly braces, or by
using the alternate syntax:
while (expr): statement ... endwhile;
Gli esempi seguenti sono identici, ed entrambi stampano i numeri da 1 a 10:
<?php
/* example 1 */
$i = 1;
while ($i <= 10) {
echo $i++; /* the printed value would be
$i before the increment
(post-increment) */
}
/* example 2 */
$i = 1;
while ($i <= 10):
echo $i;
$i++;
endwhile;
?>
While loops don't require a code block (statement).
<?php
while( ++$i < 10 ); // look ma, no brackets!
echo $i; // 10
?>
The example below displays the numbers from 1 to 5:
<?php
$x = 1;
while($x <= 5) {
echo "The number is: $x <br>";
$x++;
}
?>
This example counts to 100 by tens:
<?php
$x = 0;
while($x <= 100) {
echo "The number is: $x <br>";
$x+=10;
}
?>
<?php
$i = -1;
while ($i) {
echo $i++;
}
?>
outputs "-1" then stops because "0" (zero) gets evaluated as FALSE.
this demonstrates why it's important for a PDO statement fetch-ing a column value inside a while-loop to test explicitly for FALSE.
simple pyramid pattern program using while loop
<?php
$i=1;
while($i<=5)
{
$j=1;
while($j<=$i)
{
echo"*  ";
$j++;
}
echo"<br>";
$i++;
}
?>
// or alternatively you can use:
<?php
$i=1;
while($i<=5):
$j=1;
while($j<=$i):
echo"*  ";
$j++;
endwhile;
echo"<br>";
$i++;
endwhile;
?>
Just a note about using the continue statement to forego the remainder of a loop - be SURE you're not issuing the continue statement from within a SWITCH case - doing so will not continue the while loop, but rather the switch statement itself.
While that may seem obvious to some, it took a little bit of testing for me, so hopefully this helps someone else.
I find it often clearer to set a simple flag ($finished) to false at the start of the loop, and have the program set it to true when it's finished doing whatever it's trying to do. Then the code is more self-documenting: WHILE NOT FINISHED keep going through the loop. FINISHED EQUALS TRUE when you're done. Here's an example. This is the code I use to generate a random filename and ensure that there is not already an existing file with the same name. I've added very verbose comments to it to make it clear how it works:
<?php
$finaldir = 'download';
$finished = false; // we're not finished yet (we just started)
while ( ! $finished ): // while not finished
$rn = rand(); // random number
$outfile = $finaldir.'/'.$rn.'.gif'; // output file name
if ( ! file_exists($outfile) ): // if file DOES NOT exist...
$finished = true; // ...we are finished
endif;
endwhile; // (if not finished, re-start WHILE loop)
?>
At the end of the while (list / each) loop the array pointer will be at the end.
This means the second while loop on that array will be skipped!
You can put the array pointer back with the reset($myArray) function.
example:
<?php
$myArray=array('aa','bb','cc','dd');
while (list ($key, $val) = each ($myArray) ) echo $val;
reset($myArray);
while (list ($key, $val) = each ($myArray) ) echo $val;
?>
<?php
// test While Vs For php 5.6.17
$t1 = microtime(true);
$a=0;
while($a++ <= 1000000000);
$t2 = microtime(true);
$x1 = $t2 - $t1;
echo PHP_EOL,' > while($a++ <= 100000000); : ' ,$x1, 's', PHP_EOL;
$t3 = microtime(true);
for($a=0;$a <= 1000000000;$a++);
$t4 = microtime(true);
$x2 = $t4 - $t3;
echo PHP_EOL,'> for($a=0;$a <= 100000000;$a++); : ' ,$x2, 's', PHP_EOL;
$t5 = microtime(true);
$a=0; for(;$a++ <= 1000000000;);
$t6 = microtime(true);
$x3 = $t6 - $t5;
echo PHP_EOL,' > $a=0; for(;$a++ <= 100000000;); : ' , $x3, 's', PHP_EOL;
//> while($a++ <= 100000000); = 18.509671926498s
//
//> for($a=0;$a <= 100000000;$a++); = 25.450572013855s
//
//> $a=0; for(;$a++ <= 100000000;); = 22.614907979965s
// ===================
//> while($a++ != 100000000); : 18.204656839371s
//
//> for($a=0;$a != 100000000;$a++); : 25.025605201721s
//
//> $a=0; for(;$a++ != 100000000;); : 22.340576887131s
// ===================
//> while($a++ < 100000000); : 18.383454084396s
//
//> for($a=0;$a < 100000000;$a++); : 25.290743112564s
//
//> $a=0; for(;$a++ < 100000000;); : 23.28609919548s
?>
Instead of this usage;
<?php
$arr = array("orange", "banana", "apple", "raspberry");
$i = 0;
while ($i < count($arr)) {
$a = $arr[$i];
echo $a ."\n";
$i++;
}
// or
$i = 0;
$c = count($arr);
while ($i < $c) {
$a = $arr[$i];
echo $a ."\n";
$i++;
}
?>
This could be more efficient;
<?php
while ($a = $arr[1 * $i++]) echo $a ."\n";
?>