Nested for Loops
Based on slides for Building Java Programs by Reges/Stepp, found at
http://faculty.washington.edu/stepp/book/
Nested for loops
A for loop can contain any kind of statement in its body,
including another for loop.
The inner loop must have a different name for its loop counter
variable so that it will not conflict with the outer loop.
nested loop: Loops placed inside one another, creating a
loop of loops.
for (int i = 1; i <= 3; i++) {
for (int j = 1; j <= 2; j++) {
printf(%s\n,seven");
}
}
Output:
seven
seven
seven
seven
seven
seven
CS305j Introduction to Computing Nested For Loops 2
More nested for loops
All of the statements in the outer loop's body are
executed 5 times.
The inner loop runs 10 times for each of those 5 times,
for a total of 50 numbers printed.
for (int i = 1; i <= 5; i++) {
for (int j = 1; j <= 10; j++) {
printf(%d , i * j);
}
printf(\n); // to end the line
}
Output:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30
4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
CS305j Introduction to Computing Nested For Loops 3
Nested for loop exercise
What is the output of the following nested for
loop?
for (int row = 1; row <= 4; row++) {
for (int col = 1; col <= 5; col++)
{
printf("*");
}
printf(\n);
}
Output?
CS305j Introduction to Computing Nested For Loops 4
Nested for loop exercise
What is the output of the following nested for
loop?
for (int row = 1; row <= 6; row++) {
for (int col = 1; col <= row; col++) {
printf("*");
}
print(\n);
}
Output:
*
**
***
****
*****
******
CS305j Introduction to Computing Nested For Loops 5
Nested for loop exercise
What is the output of the following nested
for loop?
for (int i = 1; i <= 6; i++) {
for (int j = 1; j <= i; j++) {
printf(%d,i);
}
printf(\n);
}
Output?
CS305j Introduction to Computing Nested For Loops 6
Nested for loop exercise
Create a nested for loop to produce the
following output.
....1
...22
..333
.4444
55555
CS305j Introduction to Computing Nested For Loops 7
Nested for loop exercise
A for loop can have more than one loop nested in it.
What is the output of the following nested for loops?
for (int i = 1; i <= 5; i++) {
for (int j = 1; j <= (5 - i); j++) {
printf(" ");
}
for (int k = 1; k <= i; k++) {
printf(%d,i);
}
printf(\n);
}
Answer:
1
22
333
4444
55555
CS305j Introduction to Computing Nested For Loops 8
Common nested loop bugs
It is a common bug to accidentally type the wrong loop
counter variable, which can lead to incorrect behavior.
What is the output of the following nested loops?
for (int i = 1; i <= 10; i++) {
for (int j = 1; i <= 5; j++) {
printf(%d,j);
}
printf(\n);
}
What is the output of the following nested loops?
for (int i = 1; i <= 10; i++) {
for (int j = 1; j <= 5; i++) {
printf(%d,j);
}
printf(\n);
}
CS305j Introduction to Computing Nested For Loops 9
How to comment: for loops
Place a comment on complex loops explaining what they do from a
conceptual standpoint, not the mechanics of the syntax.
Bad:
// This loop repeats 10 times, with i from 1 to 10.
for (int i = 1; i <= 10; i++) {
for (int j = 1; j <= 5; j++) { // loop goes 5 times
printf(%d,j); // print the j
}
printf(\n);
}
Better:
// Prints 12345 ten times on ten separate lines.
for (int i = 1; i <= 10; i++) {
for (int j = 1; j <= 5; j++) {
printf(%d,j);
}
printf(\n); // end the line of output
}
CS305j Introduction to Computing Nested For Loops 10
