The while-loop is used to repeat a code block as long as a given condition holds. To use it, enter while, the condition in parentheses, and then a code block.
Add the terms of the harmonic series 1+1/2+1/3+1/4+⋯ until a term is less than 0.05.
You can initialize the sum S to 0 and let j be the first term 1. Input:
| S:=0; j:=1 |
Then use a while loop.
| while (1/j>=0.05) { S:=S+1/j; j:=j+1; } |
or:
| tantque (1/j>=0.05) faire S:=S+1/j; j:=j+1; ftantque |
then:
| S |
|
Note that a while loop can also be written as a for loop. For example, as long as S is set to 0 and j is set to 1, the above loop can be written as
| for (;1/j>=0.05;) { S:=S+1/j; j:=j+1; } |
or, with only S set to 0,
| for (j:=1; 1/j>=0.05; j++) { S:=S+1/j; } |
which, of course, yields the same result.