loop over

Meaning

1. 1phrasephrasal verbcomputing

   To go through each item in a list or collection one after another in a program, performing the same steps on each.

   Grammar: Takes an object after over: loop over the list.

   Patterns

   • loop over something
   • loop over something and do something

   You can loop over every name in the list and print it.

   The script will loop over all the files in the folder.

   I need to loop over the rows of the table and add up the totals.

Word forms

Common combinations

loop over a list

Loop over a list of numbers and square each one.

loop over the elements

The function will loop over the elements of the array.

loop over each item

Loop over each item and check whether it is empty.

loop over the keys

We loop over the keys of the dictionary to find the match.

loop over all files

The program will loop over all files in the directory.

Synonyms and how they differ

iterate over

Iterate over is the more formal term for the same action, while loop over is the casual spoken version.

traverse

Traverse suggests moving through a structure such as a tree, whereas loop over fits flat lists.

cycle through

Cycle through can mean going round again and again, while loop over usually has an end.

Word family

loop noun

a set of steps that repeats

loop verb

to repeat a sequence of instructions

looping noun

the use of loops in code

iteration noun

one pass through a loop

Commonly confused: loop over or loop in?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “loop over”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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