programming-for-dummies

204
Looping a Fixed Number of Times with the FOR-NEXT Loop
Counting by different number ranges is useful only if those numbers mean
something to your program. If you just need to count a fixed number of
times, it’s much clearer to count from 1 to a specific value instead. The following
FOR-NEXT loop actually runs four times (120, 121, 122, and 123):
FOR EmployeeID = 120 TO 123
PRINT EmployeeName
NEXT EmployeeID
Notice that counting from 120 to 123 doesn’t make it clear exactly how many
times the FOR-NEXT loop runs. At first glance, it appears that the FOR-NEXT
loop may repeat only three times.
To clarify exactly how many times the FOR-NEXT loop runs, it’s always much
clearer to count from 1, such as
FOR EmployeeID = 1 TO 4
PRINT EmployeeName
NEXT EmployeeID
Counting by different increments
Normally, the FOR-NEXT loop counts by 1. So consider the following
FOR-NEXT loop:
FOR I = 1 TO 4
PRINT “The value of I = “,I
NEXT I
This FOR-NEXT loop would print
The value of I = 1
The value of I = 2
The value of I = 3
The value of I = 4
If you want to count by a number other than 1, you must define an increment.
So if you want to count by 2, you’d have to define an increment of 2,
such as
FOR I = 1 TO 4 STEP 2
PRINT “The value of I = “,I
NEXT I
This modified FOR-NEXT loop would only print
The value of I = 1
The value of I = 3