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Equivalence of for Loop and while Loop

Explore how for loops and while loops in Perl are equivalent in functionality. Understand when to use each loop type based on coding style and specific conditions, enabling you to write flexible and effective Perl loops.

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Let’s look at an example of for loop:

Perl
 for ($i=0 ; $i<10 ; $i++){
   $i = $i*2;
   print "Value of i is: $i\n";
 }
 print "Final value of i is: $i\n";

Converting a for loop into a while loop

The above for loop can easily be rewritten as a while loop.

Perl
$i=0 ;
while ($i<10) {
  $i = $i*2;
  print "Value of i is: $i\n";
  $i++;
}
print "Final value of i is: $i\n";

for loop vs. while loop

A for loop is more often used by programmers due to its conciseness as well as its separation of the looping logic.

A while loop is often preferred if a certain section of code needs to be repeated for an indefinite number of times until a condition is met.

However, the two are equivalent. Therefore, it is ultimately a coding style decision, not a technical decision about whether to use one or the other.