PHP for Loop Tutorial with Syntax and Examples

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Master the for loop in PHP to execute code repeatedly with control. Explore syntax, practical examples, and best practices for efficient PHP programming.

🔁 `for` Statement in PHP

The for loop is one of the most commonly used loops in PHP. It lets you repeat a block of code a certain number of times. If you’ve used for loops in languages like C or JavaScript, PHP’s version will feel familiar.

📌 Syntax

for (initialization; condition; increment) {
    // Code to be repeated
}

🧩 Explanation:

initialization – This runs once at the beginning. It’s usually used to set up a counter variable.
condition – This is checked before every loop. If it’s true, the loop runs again. If it’s false, the loop stops.
increment – This runs at the end of every loop iteration, usually to update the counter.

💡 All three parts are optional, but at least the semicolons (;) must be there.

✅ Simple Example

<?php
for ($i = 1; $i <= 5; $i++) {
    echo "Number: $i <br>";
}
?>

Output:

Number: 1  
Number: 2  
Number: 3  
Number: 4  
Number: 5

🔄 More Examples

Example 1 – Classic `for` loop

for ($i = 1; $i <= 10; $i++) {
    echo $i;
}

Example 2 – No condition in the `for` loop

for ($i = 1; ; $i++) {
    if ($i > 10) {
        break; // Stop the loop manually
    }
    echo $i;
}

Example 3 – All parts inside the loop

$i = 1;
for (; ; ) {
    if ($i > 10) break;
    echo $i;
    $i++;
}

🌐 Example in an HTML Page

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <title>PHP For Loop</title>
</head>
<body>

<?php
for ($x = 0; $x <= 10; $x++) {
    echo "The number is: $x <br>";
}
?>

</body>
</html>

📝 Summary

Use for loops when you know exactly how many times you want to run a block of code.
You can skip any part of the loop structure, but be careful to avoid infinite loops.
The loop ends when the condition becomes false.