Foreach loop
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For each (or foreach) is a computer language idiom for traversing items in a collection. Foreach is usually used in place of a standard for statement. Unlike other for loop constructs, however, foreach loops [1] usually maintain no explicit counter: they essentially say "do this to everything in this set", rather than "do this x times". This avoids potential off-by-one errors and makes code simpler to read. In object-oriented languages an iterator, even if implicit, is often used as the means of traversal.
Syntax
Syntax varies among languages. Most use the simple word for
, roughly as follows:
for each item in collection: do something to item
Language support
Some of the languages with support for foreach loops include ABC, ActionScript, Ada, C++11, C#, CFML, Cobra, D, Daplex (a query language), ECMAScript, Java (since 1.5, using the reserved word for
for the for loop and the foreach loop), JavaScript, Objective-C (since 2.0), ParaSail, Perl, PHP, Python, REALbasic, Ruby, Smalltalk, Tcl, tcsh, Unix shells, Visual Basic .NET and Windows PowerShell. Notable languages without foreach are C and C++ prior to C++11.
ActionScript supports foreach loops by key/index and by value:
for ( var key:String in someObject ) {
var value = someObject[key];
trace( "someObject[" + key + "] = " + someObject[key] );
}
for each ( var value in someArray ) {
trace( typeof value + " " + value );
}
- Note
- someArray could be any object and someObject could be an array, but typical usage is as shown.
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Ada supports foreach loops as part of the normal for loop. Say X is an array:
for I in X'Range loop
X (I) := Get_Next_Element;
end loop;
- Note
- This syntax is mostly used on arrays but will also work with other types when a full iteration is needed.
Ada 2012 has generalized loops to foreach loops on any kind of container (array, lists, maps...):
for Obj of X loop
-- Work on Obj
end loop;
The C language does not have collections or a foreach construct. It does, however, have a number of standard data structures that can be thought of as collections, and foreach can easily be made with a macro.
However, there are two obvious problems:
- The macro is unhygienic - it declares a new variable in the existing scope which remains after the loop.
- You can't define a single foreach macro that works with different collection types (e.g. array and linked list) or that is extensible to user types.
C string as a collection of char
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
/* foreach macro for using a string as a collection of char */
#define foreach( ptrvar, strvar ) char* ptrvar; for( ptrvar=strvar ; (*ptrvar) != '\0' ; *ptrvar++)
int main(int argc,char* argv[]){
char* s1 = "abcdefg";
char* s2 = "123456789";
foreach (p1, s1) {
printf("loop 1 %c\n",*p1);
}
foreach (p2, s2){
printf("loop 2 %c\n",*p2);
}
exit(0);
return(0);
}
C int array as a collection of int (array size known at compile-time)
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
int main(int argc, char* argv[]){
/* foreach macro viewing an array of int values as a collection of int values */
#define foreach( intpvar, intary ) int* intpvar; for( intpvar=intary; intpvar < (intary + (sizeof(intary)/sizeof(intary[0]))) ; intpvar++)
int a1[] = { 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 };
int a2[] = { 3, 1, 4, 1, 5, 9 };
foreach (p1, a1) {
printf("loop 1 %d\n", *p1);
}
foreach (p2, a2){
printf("loop 2 %d\n", *p2);
}
exit(0);
return(0);
}
Most general: string or array as collection (collection size known at run-time)
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
int main(int argc, char* argv[]){
#define foreach(idxtype, idxpvar, col, colsiz ) idxtype* idxpvar; for( idxpvar=col ; idxpvar < (col + (colsiz)) ; idxpvar++)
#define arraylen( ary ) ( sizeof(ary)/sizeof(ary[0]) )
char* c1 = "collection";
int c2[] = { 3, 1, 4, 1, 5, 9 };
double* c3;
int c3len = 4;
c3 = (double*)calloc(c3len, sizeof(double));
c3[0] = 1.2; c3[1] = 3.4; c3[2] = 5.6; c3[3] = 7.8;
foreach (char, p1, c1, strlen(c1) ) {
printf("loop 1 : %c\n",*p1);
}
foreach (int, p2, c2, arraylen(c2) ){
printf("loop 2 : %d\n",*p2);
}
foreach (double, p3, c3, c3len ){
printf("loop 3 : %3.1lf\n",*p3);
}
exit(0);
return(0);
}
Assuming that myArray is an array of integers:
foreach (int x in myArray)
{
Console.WriteLine(x);
}
C++11 provides a for each loop. The syntax is taken from Java[citation needed] and looks like this:
#include <iostream>
int main()
{
int myint[] = {1,2,3,4,5};
for (int &i: myint)
{
std::cout << i << std::endl;
}
}
Currently, C++11 range-based for statements have been implemented in GCC (since version 4.6), clang (since version 3.0) and Visual C++ 2012 (version 11 [2])
Qt, a C++ framework, offers a macro providing foreach loops[3] using the STL iterator interface:
#include <QList>
#include <QDebug>
int main()
{
QList<int> list;
list << 1 << 2 << 3 << 4 << 5;
foreach (int i, list)
{
qDebug() << i;
}
}
Boost, a set of free peer-reviewed portable C++ libraries[4]
#include <boost/foreach.hpp>
#include <iostream>
int main()
{
int myint[] = {1,2,3,4,5};
BOOST_FOREACH(int &i, myint)
{
std::cout << i << std::endl;
}
}
CFML
Script syntax
// arrays
arrayeach([1,2,3,4,5], function(v){
writeOutput(v);
});
// or
for (v in [1,2,3,4,5]){
writeOutput(v);
}
// or
// (Railo only; not supported in ColdFusion)
letters = ["a","b","c","d","e"];
letters.each(function(v){
writeOutput(v); // abcde
});
// structs
for (k in collection){
writeOutput(collection[k]);
}
// or
structEach(collection, function(k,v){
writeOutput("key: #k#, value: #v#;");
});
// or
// (Railo only; not supported in ColdFusion)
collection.each(function(k,v){
writeOutput("key: #k#, value: #v#;");
});
Tag syntax
<!--- arrays --->
<cfloop index="v" array="#['a','b','c','d','e']#">
<cfoutput>#v#</cfoutput><!--- a b c d e --->
</cfloop>
Note that CFML incorrectly identifies the value as "index" in this construct; the index
variable does receive the actual value of the array element, not its index.
<!--- structs --->
<cfloop item="k" collection="#collection#">
<cfoutput>#collection[k]#</cfoutput>
</cfloop>
Common Lisp provides foreach functionality either with the dolist macro:
(dolist (i '(1 3 5 6 8 10 14 17))
(print i))
or with the mapcar function:
(mapcar #'print '(1 3 5 6 8 10 14 17))
foreach(item; set) {
// do something to item
}
or
foreach(argument) {
// pass value
}
for (final element in someCollection) {
// do something with element
}
Foreach support was added in Delphi 2005, and uses an enumerator variable that must be declared in the var section.
for enumerator in collection do
begin
//do something here
end;
The iteration (foreach) form of the Eiffel loop construct is introduced by the keyword across
.
In this example, every element of the structure my_list
is printed:
across my_list as ic loop print (ic.item) end
The local entity ic
is an instance of the library class ITERATION_CURSOR
. The cursor's feature item
provides access to each structure element. Descendants of class ITERATION_CURSOR
can be created to handle specialized iteration algorithms. The types of objects that can be iterated across (my_list
in the example) are based on classes that inherit from the library class ITERABLE
.
The iteration form of the Eiffel loop can also be used as a boolean expression when the keyword loop
is replaced by either all
(effecting universal quantification) or some
(effecting existential quantification).
This iteration is a boolean expression which is true if all items in my_list
have counts greater than three:
across my_list as ic all ic.item.count > 3 end
The following is true if at least one item has a count greater than three:
across my_list as ic some ic.item.count > 3 end
Go's foreach loop can be used to loop over an array, slice, string, map, or channel.
Using the two-value form, we get the index/key (first element) and the value (second element):
for index, value := range someCollection {
// do something to index and value
}
Using the one-value form, we get the index/key (first element):
for index := range someCollection {
// do something to index
}
Groovy supports for loops over collections like arrays, lists and ranges:
def x = [1,2,3,4]
for (v in x) // loop over the 4-element array x
{
println v
}
for (v in [1,2,3,4]) // loop over 4-element literal list
{
println v
}
for (v in 1..4) // loop over the range 1..4
{
println v
}
Groovy also supports a C-style for loop with an array index:
for (i = 0; i < x.size(); i++)
{
println x[i]
}
Collections in Groovy can also be iterated over using the each keyword and a closure. By default, the loop dummy is named it
x.each{ println it } // print every element of the x array
x.each{i-> println i} // equivalent to line above, only loop dummy explicitly named "i"
One can loop over lists with monadic actions using mapM_ and forM_ (traverse with its arguments flipped) from Control.Monad:
code | prints |
---|---|
mapM_ print [1..4]
|
1 2 3 4 |
forM_ "test" $ \char -> do
putChar char
putChar char
|
tteesstt |
It's also possible to generalize those functions to work on applicative functors rather than monads and any data structure that is traversable using traverse (for with its arguments flipped) and mapM (forM with its arguments flipped)from Data.Traversable.
for (value in iterable) {
trace(value);
}
Lambda.iter(iterable, function(value) trace(value));
A foreach-construct was introduced in JDK 1.5.0.[6]
Official sources use several names for the construct. It is referred to as the "Enhanced for Loop",[6] the "For-Each Loop",[7] and the "foreach statement".[8]
for (type item: iterableCollection) {
// do something to item
}
For unordered iteration over the keys in an Object, JavaScript features the for...in
loop:
for (var key in object) {
//do stuff with object[key]
}
In order to limit the iteration to the object's own properties, excluding the ones inherited through the prototype chain, it is sometimes useful to add a hasOwnProperty() test, if supported by the JavaScript engine (for WebKit/Safari, this means "in version 3 or later").
for (var key in object) {
if (object.hasOwnProperty(key)) {
//do stuff with object[key]
}
}
In ECMAScript 5 it's also possible to use the forEach
method of a native array.[9]
var animals = ['dog', 'cat', 'bear'];
animals.forEach(function(animal, index) {
alert(index + ':' + animal); // '0:dog', '1:cat', '2:bear'
});
Gecko’s JavaScript engine also has a for each...in
statement, which iterates over the values in the object, not the keys.[10]
Also note that it is inadvisable to use either a for...in
or for each...in
statement on an Array object in JavaScript, due to the above issue of properties inherited from prototypes, and also because it only iterates over existent keys and is not guaranteed to iterate over the elements in any particular order.[11] A regular C-style for loop should be used instead. The EcmaScript 6 proposal has for..of
for index-less iteration over generators, arrays and more.
for item = array
%do something
end
Mint
For each loops are supported in Mint, possessing the following syntax:
for each element of list
/* 'Do something.' */
end
Interestingly enough, the for (;;)
or while (true)
infinite loop
in Mint can be written using a for each loop and an infinitely long list.[12]
import type
/* 'This function is mapped to'
* 'each index number i of the'
* 'infinitely long list.'
*/
sub identity(x)
return x
end
/* 'The following creates the list'
* '[0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, ..., infinity]'
*/
infiniteList = list(identity)
for each element of infiniteList
/* 'Do something forever.' */
end
Foreach loops, called Fast enumeration, are supported starting in Objective-C 2.0. They can be used to iterate over any object that implements the NSFastEnumeration protocol, including NSArray, NSDictionary (iterates over keys), NSSet, etc.
NSArray *a = [NSArray new]; // Any container class can be substituted
for(id obj in a) { // Note the dynamic typing (we do not need to know the
// Type of object stored in 'a'. In fact, there can be
// many different types of object in the array.
printf("%s\n", [[obj description] UTF8String]); // Must use UTF8String with %s
NSLog(@"%@", obj); // Leave as an object
}
NSArrays can also broadcast a message to their members:
NSArray *a = [NSArray new];
[a makeObjectsPerformSelector:@selector(printDescription)];
Where blocks are available, an NSArray can automatically perform a block on every contained item:
[myArray enumerateObjectsUsingBlock:^(id obj, NSUInteger idx, BOOL *stop)
{
NSLog(@"obj %@", obj);
if ([obj shouldStopIterationNow])
*stop = YES;
}];
The type of collection being iterated will dictate the item returned with each iteration. For example:
NSDictionary *d = [NSDictionary new];
for(id key in d) {
NSObject *obj = [d objectForKey:key]; // We use the (unique) key to access the (possibly non-unique) object.
NSLog(@"%@", obj);
}
Since OCaml is a functional language, the equivalent of a foreach loop can be achieved as a library function over lists and arrays.
For Lists:
List.iter (fun x -> print_int x) [1;2;3;4];;
or in short way:
List.iter print_int [1;2;3;4];;
For Arrays:
Array.iter (fun x -> print_int x) [|1;2;3;4|];;
or in short way:
Array.iter print_int [|1;2;3;4|];;
The ParaSail parallel programming language supports several kinds of iterators, including a general "for each" iterator over a container:
var Con : Container<Element_Type> := ...
// ...
for each Elem of Con concurrent loop // loop may also be "forward" or "reverse" or unordered (the default)
// ... do something with Elem
end loop
ParaSail also supports filters on iterators, as well as the ability to refer to both the key and the value of a map. Here is a forward iteration over the elements of "My_Map" selecting only elements where the keys are in "My_Set":
var My_Map : Map<Key_Type => Univ_String, Value_Type => Tree<Integer>> := ...
const My_Set : Set<Univ_String> := ["abc", "def", "ghi"];
for each [Str => Tr] of My_Map {Str in My_Set} forward loop
// ... do something with Str or Tr
end loop
The ISO 10206:1990 standard introduced iteration over set types in Pascal:
var
elt: ElementType;
eltset: set of ElementType;
{...}
for elt in eltset do
{ ... do something with elt }
In the Perl programming language, foreach (which is equivalent to the shorter for) can be used to traverse elements of a list. The expression which denotes the collection to loop over is evaluated in list-context and each item of the resulting list is, in turn, aliased to the loop variable.
List literal example:
foreach (1, 2, 3, 4) {
print $_;
}
Array examples:
foreach (@arr) {
print $_;
}
foreach $x (@arr) { #$x is the element in @arr
print $x;
}
Hash example:
foreach $x (keys %hash) {
print $x . " = " . $hash{$x}; # $x is a key in %hash and $hash{$x} is its value
}
Direct modification of collection members:
@arr = ( 'remove-foo', 'remove-bar' );
foreach $x (@arr){
$x =~ s/remove-//;
}
# Now @arr = ('foo', 'bar');
foreach($set as $value)
{
// do something to $value;
}
It is also possible to extract both keys and values using the alternate syntax:
foreach ($set as $key => $value) {
echo "{$key} has a value of {$value}";
}
Direct modification of collection members:
$arr = array(1, 2, 3);
foreach ($set as &$value) { // note the &, $value is a reference to the original value inside $set
$value++;
}
// Now $arr = array(2, 3, 4);
// also works with the full syntax
foreach ($set as $key => &$value) {
$value++;
}
for item in iterable_collection:
# do something with item
Python's tuple assignment, fully available in its foreach loop, also makes it trivial to iterate on (key, value) pairs in associative arrays:
for key, value in some_dict.items(): # direct iteration on a dict iterates on its keys
# do stuff
As for ... in
is the only kind of for loop in Python, the equivalent to the "counter" loop found in other languages is...
for i in range(len(seq)):
# do something to seq[i]
... though using the enumerate
function is considered more "Pythonic":
for i, item in enumerate(seq):
# do stuff with item
# possibly assign it back to seq[i]
(for ([item set])
(do-something-with item))
or using the conventional Scheme for-each
function:
(for-each do-something-with a-list)
set.each do |item|
# do something to item
end
or
for item in set
# do something to item
end
You can also use this with a hash.
set.each do |item,value|
# do something to item
# do something to value
end
// return list of modified elements
some_items map ( x => do_something(x) )
some_items map multiply_by_two
// return nothing, just perform action
some_items foreach ( x => do_something(x) )
some_items foreach println
collection do: [:item| "do something to item" ]
Tcl uses foreach to iterate over lists. It is possible to specify more than one iterator variable, in which case they are assigned sequential values from the list.
code | prints |
---|---|
foreach {i j} {1 2 3 4 5 6} {
puts "$i $j"
}
|
1 2 3 4 5 6 |
It is also possible to iterate over more than one list simultaneously. In the following i assumes sequential values of the first list, j sequential values of the second list:
code | prints |
---|---|
foreach i {1 2 3} j {a b c} {
puts "$i $j"
}
|
1 a 2 b 3 c |
For Each item As type In set
' do something to item
Next item
foreach ($item in $set) {
# do something to $item
}
From a pipeline
$list | % {Write-Host $_}
<xsl:for-each select="set">
<!-- do something for the elements in <set> -->
</xsl:for-each>
See also
References
- ^ "D Programming Language foreach Statement Documentation". Digital Mars. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
{{cite web}}
: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=
(help) - ^ "C++11 Features in Visual C++ 11 - Visual C++ Team Blog - Site Home - MSDN Blogs". Blogs.msdn.com. 2011-09-12. Retrieved 2013-08-04.
- ^ "Qt 4.2: Generic Containers". Doc.qt.digia.com. Retrieved 2013-08-04.
- ^ Eric Niebler (2013-01-31). "Chapter 9. Boost.Foreach - 1.53.0". Boost.org. Retrieved 2013-08-04.
- ^ "Range Clause". The Go Programming Language Specification. The Go Programming Language. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
- ^ a b "Enhanced for Loop - This new language construct[...]" "Java Programming Language, Section: Enhancements in JDK 5". Sun Microsystems, Inc. 2004. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
- ^ "The For-Each Loop" "The For-Each Loop". Sun Microsystems, Inc. 2008. Retrieved 2009-05-10.
- ^ "Implementing this interface allows an object to be the target of the "foreach" statement." "Iterable (Java Platform SE 6)". Sun Microsystems, Inc. 2004. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
- ^ "Array.prototype.forEach". Mozilla Developer Network. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
- ^ "JavaScript - for each...in statement". Mozilla Developer Network. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
- ^ "JavaScript - for...in statement on arrays". Mozilla Developer Network. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
- ^ Chu, Oliver. "Mint Tutorial". Retrieved 20 October 2013.
- ^ "XSLT <xsl:for-each> Element". W3Schools.com.