Difference between i++ and ++i in for loop

[AhmedGY]

I know the difference between the prefix/postfix increment, the prefix returns the value after increment, while postfix return it before increment, however i can't see any difference when using FOR loops.

see:

for(int i=0;i<10;i++)
printf("%d",i);
//prints i=0 and update i++, but since its postfix increment, it's supposed to return the value of i which = 0 and then increment to 1, if thats the case, it will print i = 0 in an infinite loop, because the i never get to 1 since i++ returns the i before increment (0), However the loop works normal and print from 0 to 9, i dont understand why.

Here:

for(int i=0;i<10;++i)
printf("%d",i);
//prints i=0 and then update ++i and returns i=1, and so on.

Can someone explain the difference between i++ and ++i in for loops?

Thanks,

AhmedGY

[weaknessforcats]

In your example there is no logical difference. That is:

++i;
i++;
 

do the same thing. i is incremented.

The difference is that with prefix (++i) the variable is incremented and then used whereas postfix (i++) the variable is used and then incrmented.

You see the difference here:

int i = 5;
if (++i == 6)
{
 
}
 

Here is a prefix increment. i is incremented to 6 and then used. 6 == 6 and the statement is true.

int i = 5;
if (i++ == 6)
{
 
}
 

Here is a postfix incrment. i is used 5 == 6 (then the i is incrmented) and th statement is false.

In both cases, after the if statement, i is 6.

[Ganon11]

It doesn't make a huge difference in timing, but I believe using the pre-increment operator in a for...loop is slightly faster. Both pre-increment and post-increment operations increment the operand, but the post-increment operator (i++) must first make a copy of the old value, then increment and return the old value. The pre-increment operator (++i) merely increments and returns. You won't see a large return on a small for loop, such as one that runs 10 times, but you may see a gain in time on a very large loop, or one that using objects such as iterators rather than integers.

The reason there is no logical difference between i++ and ++i in the loop is because the update statement is a statement of its own. In other words, say you have a simple for loop, like this:

for (int i = 0; i < 20; i++) {
  // Blah blah blah.
}

This could be rewritten as:

int i = 0;
while (i < 20) {
  // Blah blah blah.
  i++;
}

As you can see, each section of the for loop header serves a different purpose. In general, the pattern is:

for (/* Initialization statement */; /* Continuation Check */; /* Update statement */) {
  // Blah blah blah.
}

and can always be rewritten as

/* Initialization statement */
while (/* Continuation Check */) {
  // Blah blah blah.
  /* Update statement */
}

So, when your update statement is i++ or ++i, they are treated as a separate statement, and as you seem to know, there is functionally no difference between the statement

i++;

and the statement

++i;

on their own.

[AhmedGY]

but the post-increment operator (i++) must first make a copy of the old value, then increment and return the old value.

return the old value to where?, as far as i know the update statement return the value to the continuation check, so using i++ will return the old value (which is 0), then increment, lets trace the i in this example:

for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) 
      {
          printf("%d\n",i);
      }

i=0 and <10, go inside the loop and print 0, the update statement i++ makes a copy of the value 0 return it back to continouation check and increment i by 1, the old value 0 that been returned should now go inside the loop again and print another 0.

thats how i logically understand the things going on, correct me please.

[oler1s]

as far as i know the update statement return the value to the continuation check, so using i++ will return the old value (which is 0), then increment,

Careful about how you interpret the for loop. The update in the for loop doesn't mean you set the value of i for the entire for loop. Evaluating a value there has no meaning, because the for loop goes through another iteration regardless. The only thing that matters is the side effect (like incrementing).

i=0 and <10, go inside the loop and print 0, the update statement i++ makes a copy of the value 0 return it back to continouation check and increment i by 1,

The evaluating to 0 is meaningless. What is meaningful is incrementing i by 1.

the old value 0 that been returned should now go inside the loop again

Huh? How does this compute? The for loop is not like a function, where i gets passed into it. The fact that i++ returns 0 is utterly meaningless. That value for i is not used at all. i gets incremented by 1, so the new value of i is used on the next iteration of the for loop.

In a for loop, i++ and ++i shouldn't make a difference. It shouldn't make a difference in speed either, unless the compiler is really, really bad.

[JosAH]

It doesn't make a huge difference in timing, but I believe using the pre-increment operator in a for...loop is slightly faster. Both pre-increment and post-increment operations increment the operand, but the post-increment operator (i++) must first make a copy of the old value, then increment and return the old value. The pre-increment operator (++i) merely increments and returns.

That is all highly dependent on the target processor; e.g. Sun's SPARC processor
always executes the instruction *following* a conditional branch, no matter the
result of the branch condition. The gcc code generator cleverly 'hides' the increment
instruction there effectively speeding up the post-increment/decrement instruction.

I bet other processors implement different tricks to make a pre-increment/decrement
instruction faster than the other one; but remember: not the entire world uses Intel
processors ...

kind regards,

Jos

[hsn]

i=5;
if you said i++, i will be 6 in the next line;
but if you said ++i right away it will be 6;

Good luck

[hsn]

sorry i have posted a wrong point

if i=5
if you used i++ i a for loop i will be 6 in the end of the loop. same point for if statement.
but the post about the ++i is correct

good luck again

hsn

[AhmedGY]

Thanks, I got it =)

AhmedGY

[varun53]

for(initialization;condition;incre/decre)

in this statement, at first initialization executes, then condition executes, now this is where you have to understand...that is after condition, the body of the look executes and finally incre/decre takes place...after incre/decre, the condition again is checked and the body is executed and goes on....

this is the simple reason that there is no difference between pre increment and post-increment in for loop.....ta...da...