While Loops and Numbers

Calculations and Arithmetic are core component of programming. While loops can be used to ease the repetition and help us do complex calculations.

Recipe to create generate numbers

1. Set a variable with the starting number

2. Set your condition to loop as long as it hasn't reached the final number to arrive at

3. Manipulate the variable at every loop as the last operation of the loop

Recall that a while loop will always recheck its condition to see if it is true after its code block is done.

Example

let num = 1;

while (num < 10) {
    console.log(`Current number is: ${num}.`);
    
    num++;
}

Initialization: You start by setting a variable, num set to the value 1.

Condition Check: You have a loop that will keep running as long as num is less than 10.

Loop Execution: Inside the loop, you perform two main actions:

• Print the current value of num to the console.

• Increase the value of num by 1.

Repetition: The loop checks the condition again. If num is still less than 10, it repeats the actions inside the loop. This process continues, with num increasing by 1 each time, until num reaches 10.

Termination: When num becomes 10, the condition num < 10 is no longer true, so the loop stops running.

In essence, this loop counts from 1 to 9, printing each number along the way. The loop ensures that the actions inside it are repeated until a specific condition is no longer met.

Example of going downwards

let num = 100;

while (num > 0) {
    console.log(`Current number is: ${num}.`);
    
    num = num - 10;
}

Initialization: You start by setting a variable, which we’ll call num, to the value 100.

Condition Check: You have a loop that will continue to run as long as num is greater than 0.

Loop Execution: Inside the loop, two main actions occur:

• The current value of num is printed to the console.

• The value of num is decreased by 10.

Repetition: After each iteration, the loop checks the condition again. If num is still greater than 0, the loop repeats the actions. This process continues, with num decreasing by 10 each time, until num is no longer greater than 0.

Termination: When num becomes 0 or less, the condition num > 0 is no longer true, so the loop stops running.