On Mon, Feb 14, 2022 at 01:12:48PM +0100, Thomas Zimmermann wrote:
Am 14.02.22 um 11:38 schrieb Andy Shevchenko:
On Mon, Feb 14, 2022 at 10:03:53AM +0100, Thomas Zimmermann wrote:
Am 11.02.22 um 16:41 schrieb Andy Shevchenko:
...
IMO *always* prefer a for loop over while or do-while.
The for (i = 0; i < N; i++) is such a strong paradigm in C. You instantly know how many times you're going to loop, at a glance. Not so with with the alternatives, which should be used sparingly.
while () {} _is_ a paradigm, for-loop is syntax sugar on top of it.
Naw, that's not true.
In the section 3.5 "Loops - While and For" in "The C Programming Language" 2nd by K&R, the authors said:
Year of publication: 1988 . It's not the most up-to-date reference for C programming.
Yet this makes your above remark invalid, i.e. `for` _is_ syntax sugar despite what you think it's idiomatic _nowadays_.
The for statement ... is equivalent to ... while..."
They said that for is equivalent to while, and not otherwise.
Even leaving readability aside, it's not equivalent. You can declare variables as part of the for statement. (I know it's not the kernel's style.) Also, 'continue' statements are not well-suited in for loops, because it's non-obvious if the loop's update statement is being executed. (It isn't.)
It's also written in the book :-)
Also, syntax sugar by definition declares something that can be written as a single line of code, which usually is done using more (not always).
The discussion has entered the phase of hair splitting. Good.
I don't know why we are adding an oil into the flames...