Dart loops

last modified January 28, 2024

In this article we show how to create loops in Dart language. We create loops with for and while statements. In addition, we present the break and continue statements.

Loops

The for and while statement are used to create loops. The break and continue statments are used to alter the loop execution.

Loops are used to execute statements multiple times or to traverse containers.

Dart while loop

The while statement 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;
}

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.

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

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

  print(sum);
}

In the code example, we calculate the sum of values from a range of 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.

$ dart main.dart
55

Dart classic for loop

The classic for loop was taken from the C programming language. A for loop has also three phases: initialization, condition and code block execution, and incrementation.

void main() {
  var sum = 0;

  for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
    sum += i;
  }

  print(sum);
}

In this example, we sum values 0..9 and print the result to the console.

for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
  sum += i;
}

In the first phase, we initiate the counter i to zero. This phase is done only once. Next comes the condition i < 10. If the condition is met, the statement inside the for block is executed. In the third phase the counter is increased. Now we repeat the 2, 3 phases until the condition is not met and the for loop is left. In our case, when the counter i is equal to 10, the for loop stops executing.

Dart for loop List

A for loop can be used for traversal of containers such as lists or maps. From the length property of the list we get its size.

void main() {
  final planets = [
    "Mercury",
    "Venus",
    "Earth",
    "Mars",
    "Jupiter",
    "Saturn",
    "Uranus",
    "Pluto"
  ];

  for (int i = 0; i < planets.length; i++) {
    print(planets[i]);
  }

  print("In reverse:");

  for (int i = planets.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
    print(planets[i]);
  }
}

We have a list holding the names of planets in our Solar System. Using two for loops, we print the values in ascending and descending orders.

for (int i = 0; i < planets.length; i++) {
  print(planets[i]);
}

The lists are accessed by zero-based indexing. The first item has index 0. Therefore, the i variable is initialized to zero. The condition checks if the i variable is less than the length of the list. In the final phase, the i variable is incremented.

for (int i = planets.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
  print(planets[i]);
}

This for loop prints the elements of the list in reverse order. The i counter is initialized to list size. Since the indexing is zero based, the last element has index list size-1. The condition ensures that the counter is greater or equal to zero. (List indexes cannot be negative). In the third step, the i counter is decremented by one.

$ dart main.dart
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Pluto
In reverse:
Pluto
Uranus
Saturn
Jupiter
Mars
Earth
Venus
Mercury

Dart for loop Map

A for loop can be used to traverse a Map.

void main() {
  final fruit = {1: 'Apple', 2: 'Banana', 3: 'Cherry', 4: 'Orange'};

  for (final key in fruit.keys) print(key);
  for (final value in fruit.values) print(value);

  for (final me in fruit.entries) {
    print("${me.key}: ${me.value}");
  }
}

In the example, we use for loops to print al keys, values, and map entries (key/value pairs).

for (var key in fruit.keys) print(key);

In this for loop, we go through all map keys. If a for loop consists only of one statement, we can put the whole loop one a single line.

$ dart main.dart 
1
2
3
4
Apple
Banana
Cherry
Orange
1: Apple
2: Banana
3: Cherry
4: Orange

Dart for/in loop

The for/in simplifies traversing over collections of data. It has no explicit counter. It goes through the array or collection one by one and the current value is copied to a variable defined in the construct.

void main() {
  final vals = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5];
  for (final e in vals) {
    print(e * e);
  }
}

In the example, we use the for range to go through a list of numbers.

for (final e in vals) {
  print(e * e);
}

We iterate through the list of numbers. The e is a temporary variable that contains the current value of the list. The for statement goes through all the numbers and prints their squares to the console.

$ dart main.dart
1
4
9
16
25

Dart nested for loop

For statements can be nested; i.e. a for statement can be placed inside another for statement. All cycles of a nested for loops are executed for each cycle of the outer for loop.

void main() {
  final a1 = ["A", "B", "C"];
  final a2 = ["A", "B", "C"];

  for (int i = 0; i < a1.length; i++) {
    for (int j = 0; j < a2.length; j++) {
      print(a1[i] + a2[j]);
    }
  }
}

In this example, we create a cartesian product of two lists.

for (int i = 0; i < a1.length; i++) {
  for (int j = 0; j < a2.length; j++) {
    print(a1[i] + a2[j]);
  }
}

There is a nested for loop inside another parent for loop. The nested for loop is executed fully for each of the cycles of the parent for loop.

$ dart main.dart
AA
AB
AC
BA
BB
BC
CA
CB
CC

Dart break statement

The break statement can be used to terminate the execution of a loop created by while and for statements.

import 'dart:math';

void main() {
  const int MAX = 30;

  while (true) {
    var num = new Random().nextInt(MAX);
    print("$num");

    if (num == 22) {
      break;
    }
  }

  print("\n");
}

We define an endless while loop. We use the break statement to get out of this loop. We choose a random value from 1 to 30. We print the value. If the value equals to 22, we finish the endless while loop.

$ dart main.dart
21
4
20
20
22

Dart continue statement

The continue statement is used to skip a part of the loop and continue with the next iteration of the loop. In the following example, we print a list of numbers that cannot be divided by 2 without a remainder.

void main() {
  int num = 0;

  while (num < 1000) {
    num++;

    if ((num % 2) == 0) {
      continue;
    }

    print("$num");
  }

  print("\n");
}

We iterate through numbers 1..999 with the while loop.

if ((num % 2) == 0) {
  continue;
}

If the expression num % 2 returns 0, the number in question can be divided by 2. The continue statement is executed and the rest of the cycle is skipped. In our case, the last statement of the loop is skipped and the number is not printed to the console. The next iteration is started.

Source

Dart loops - language reference

In this article we have covered loops in Dart.

Author

My name is Jan Bodnar and I am a passionate programmer with many years of programming experience. I have been writing programming articles since 2007. So far, I have written over 1400 articles and 8 e-books. I have over eight years of experience in teaching programming.

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