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for

for loop to repeat specified number of times

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Syntax

for index = values
   statements
end

Description

for index = values, statements, end executes a group of statements in a loop for a specified number of times. values has one of the following forms:

  • initVal:endVal — Increment the index variable from initVal to endVal by 1, and repeat execution of statements until index is greater than endVal.

  • initVal:step:endVal — Increment index by the value step on each iteration, or decrements index when step is negative.

  • valArray — Create a column vector, index, from subsequent columns of array valArray on each iteration. For example, on the first iteration, index = valArray(:,1). The loop executes a maximum of n times, where n is the number of columns of valArray, given by numel(valArray(1,:)). The input valArray can be of any MATLAB® data type, including a character vector, cell array, or struct.

example

Examples

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Open Live Script

Create a Hilbert matrix of order 10. 

s = 10;
H = zeros(s);

for c = 1:s
    for r = 1:s
        H(r,c) = 1/(r+c-1);
    end
end
Open Live Script

Step by increments of -0.2, and display the values.

for v = 1.0:-0.2:0.0
   disp(v)
end
     1

    0.8000

    0.6000

    0.4000

    0.2000

     0
Open Live Script
for v = [1 5 8 17]
   disp(v)
end
     1

     5

     8

    17
Open Live Script
for I = eye(4,3)
    disp('Current unit vector:')
    disp(I)
end
Current unit vector:

     1
     0
     0
     0

Current unit vector:

     0
     1
     0
     0

Current unit vector:

     0
     0
     1
     0

Tips

  • To programmatically exit the loop, use a break statement. To skip the rest of the instructions in the loop and begin the next iteration, use a continue statement.

  • Avoid assigning a value to the index variable within the loop statements. The for statement overrides any changes made to index within the loop.

  • To iterate over the values of a single column vector, first transpose it to create a row vector.

Extended Capabilities

Version History

Introduced before R2006a

See Also

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