Loops in PHP?

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

while (condition)
  {
  code to be executed;
  }

Example:
<html>
<body>
<?php
$i=1;
while($i<=5)
{
echo "The number is " . $i . "<br />";
$i++;
} ?>
</body>
</html>

Click to see output

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

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

Example:
<html>
<body>
<?php
$i=1;
do
{
$i++;
echo "The number is " . $i . "<br />";
}
while ($i<=5);
?>
</body>
</html>

Click to see output

PHP Looping - For Loops

The for Loop

The for loop is used when you know in advance how many times the script should run.

Syntax

for (init; condition; increment)
  {
  code to be executed;
  }

Example:
<html>
<body>
<?php
for ($i=1; $i<=5; $i++)
{
echo "The number is " . $i . "<br />";
}
?>
</body>
</html>

Click to see output

The foreach Loop

The foreach loop is used to loop through arrays.

Syntax

foreach ($array as$value)
  {
  code to be executed;
  }

Example:
<html>
<body>
<?php
$x=array("one","two","three");
foreach ($x as $value)
{
echo $value . "<br />";
}
?>
</body>
</html>

Click to see output