Why do you choose for (;;) {}, and (1)?

Question

Possible duplicate:
Is "for (;;)" faster than "while (TRUE)"? If not, why do people use it?

I see it

for (;;) { // Some code here } 

often. But what advantages does it offer and why not just choose while(1){} ?

Answer 1

They produce identical code. There are several reasons why you might prefer for (;;) , but all this is just a personal preference:

• Some compilers will warn you about conditions that are always true. for(;;) will not have this problem.

• for (;;) literally reads “Just loop forever!”, while while (true) still has some sort of condition.

I say, choose one and stick to it. It doesn’t matter if you do not switch between them arbitrarily.

Answer 2

This is the forever loop form that Kernigan and Richie used in their book ^* . There is absolutely no reason to prefer one form over another.

^* Section 3.5 on the While and For loops, example No. 4.

Answer 3

These are two equivalents and most likely will result in an identical machine code. Choosing one over the other is a matter of personal preference.

Answer 4

It doesn’t matter - it’s just personal preference.

I like for(;;) better because I think it emphasizes the loop forever.