C while

last modified January 9, 2023

C while tutorial shows how to create loops in C with while statement.

The while statement

The while statement is used to create a while loop. A while loop is a control flow statement that allows code to be executed repeatedly based on a given boolean condition.

This is the general form of the while loop:

while (expression) {

    statement(s);
}

The while keyword executes the statements inside the block enclosed by the curly brackets. The statements are executed each time the expression is evaluated to true.

C while example

The following example uses a while statement to calculate a sum.

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    
    int i = 0;
    int sum = 0;

    while (i < 10) {
        
        sum += i;
        i++;
    }

    printf("%d\n", sum);

    return 0;
}

We calculate the sum of 1..9 numbers.

The while loop has three parts: initialization, testing and updating. Each execution of the statement is called a cycle.

int i = 0;

We initiate the i variable. It is used as a counter.

while (i < 10) {
   ...
}

The expression inside the round brackets following the while keyword is the second phase: the testing. The statements in the body are executed until the expression is evaluated to false.

i++;

This is the last, third phase of the while loop: the updating. We increment the counter. Note that improper handling of the while loops may lead to endless cycles.

$ ./simple 
45

C while - calculate factorial

The factorial of a positive integer n, denoted by n!, is the product of all positive integers less than or equal to n.

n! = n * (n-1) * (n-2) * ... * 1

This is the formula to calculate the factorial.

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {

    int i = 10;
    int factorial = 1;

    while (i > 1) {

        factorial *= i;
        i--;
    }

    printf("%d\n", factorial);

    return 0;
}

In the example, we use the while loop to calculate the 10! factorial.

$ ./factorial 
3628800

C while - endless loop

The while (1) creates an endless loop. In order to terminate the loop, we use the break statement.

#include <time.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

int main() {

    srand(time(NULL));

    while (1) {

        int r = rand() % 30;

        printf("%d ", r);

        if (r == 22) {

            break;
        }
    }

    printf("\n");

    return 0;
}

The example calculates a random value between 0..29. If it equals to 22, the loop is finished with the break statement.

$ ./random 
21 6 0 4 20 26 14 6 0 29 12 15 17 2 15 24 12 17 25 29 6 10 14 22 

C while - loop over array

The while statement can be used to traverse over an array.

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {

    int vals[] = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10};

    int i, sum = 0;
    size_t len = sizeof vals / sizeof vals[0];

    while (i <= len) {

        sum += vals[i];
        i++;
    }

    printf("The sum is: %d\n", sum);

    return 0;
}

In the example, we have an array of integers. We go over the array with the while statement and calculate the sum of the values.

$ ./loop_array 
The sum is: 55

C do while example

The do while statement is a specific form of a while statement, where the block is executed before the condition. So the block is always executed at least once.

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {

    int val, sum = 0;

    do {

        printf("Enter a number: ");
        scanf("%d", &val);
        sum += val;

    } while(val != 0);

    printf("The sum is: %d\n", sum);

    return 0;
}

The example asks the user to repeatedly enter a number. It calculates the sum of all those values. It terminates the loop when the user enters zero.

$ ./do_while 
Enter a number: 2
Enter a number: 3
Enter a number: 4
Enter a number: 5
Enter a number: 0
The sum is: 14

In this article, we have covered the while statement in C.