Loops

bash for loop

# basic construct
for arg in [list]
do
 command(s)...
done

For each pass through the loop, arg takes on the value of each successive value in the list. Then the command(s) are executed.

# loop on array member
NAMES=(Joe Jenny Sara Tony)
for N in ${NAMES[@]} ; do
  echo "My name is $N"
done

# loop on command output results
for f in $( ls prog.sh /etc/localtime ) ; do
  echo "File is: $f"
done

bash while loop

# basic construct
while [ condition ]
do
 command(s)...
done

The while construct tests for a condition, and if true, executes commands. It keeps looping as long as the condition is true.

COUNT=4
while [ $COUNT -gt 0 ]; do
  echo "Value of count is: $COUNT"
  COUNT=$(($COUNT - 1))
done

bash until loop

# basic construct
until [ condition ]
do
 command(s)...
done

The until construct tests for a condition, and if false, executes commands. It keeps looping as long as the condition is false (opposite of while construct)

COUNT=1
until [ $COUNT -gt 5 ]; do
  echo "Value of count is: $COUNT"
  COUNT=$(($COUNT + 1))
done

"break" and "continue" statements

break and continue can be used to control the loop execution of for, while and until constructs. continue is used to skip the rest of a particular loop iteration, whereas break is used to skip the entire rest of loop. A few examples:

# Prints out 0,1,2,3,4

COUNT=0
while [ $COUNT -ge 0 ]; do
  echo "Value of COUNT is: $COUNT"
  COUNT=$((COUNT+1))
  if [ $COUNT -ge 5 ] ; then
    break
  fi
done

# Prints out only odd numbers - 1,3,5,7,9
COUNT=0
while [ $COUNT -lt 10 ]; do
  COUNT=$((COUNT+1))
  # Check if COUNT is even
  if [ $(($COUNT % 2)) = 0 ] ; then
    continue
  fi
  echo $COUNT
done

Exercise

In this exercise, you will need to loop through and print out all even numbers from the numbers list in the same order they are received. Don't print any numbers that come after 237 in the sequence.