The while loop

The while statement allows for the la repetition of a statement.

while statement

Syntax:

while (condition)
  statement

• condition is an expression of type boolean
• statement is a single statement (also called the body of the loop)

Note: since, by making use of a block, it is possible to group several statements into a single composite statement, it is in fact possible to have more than one statement in the body of the loop.

Semantics:

• First, the condition is evaluated.
• If it is true, the statement is executed and the value of the condition is evaluated again, continuing in this way until the condition becomes false.
• At this point the statement immediately following the while loop is executed.

Hence, the body of the loop is executed as long as the condition stays true. As soon as it becomes false we exit the loop and continue with the following statement.

Example: Print out 100 stars.

int i = 0;
while (i < 100) {
  System.out.print("*");
  i++;
}