Is it possible to declare two variables of different types in a for loop?
No - but technically there is a work-around (not that i'd actually use it unless forced to):
for(struct { int a; char b; } s = { 0, 'a' } ; s.a < 5 ; ++s.a)
{
std::cout << s.a << " " << s.b << std::endl;
}
Not possible, but you can do:
float f;
int i;
for (i = 0,f = 0.0; i < 5; i++)
{
//...
}
Or, explicitly limit the scope of f
and i
using additional brackets:
{
float f;
int i;
for (i = 0,f = 0.0; i < 5; i++)
{
//...
}
}
C++17: Yes! You should use a structured binding declaration. The syntax has been supported in gcc and clang since gcc-7 and clang-4.0 (clang live example). This allows us to unpack a tuple like so:
for (auto [i, f, s] = std::tuple{1, 1.0, std::string{"ab"}}; i < N; ++i, f += 1.5) {
// ...
}
The above will give you:
-
int i
set to1
-
double f
set to1.0
-
std::string s
set to"ab"
Make sure to #include <tuple>
for this kind of declaration.
You can specify the exact types inside the tuple
by typing them all out as I have with the std::string
, if you want to name a type. For example:
auto [vec, i32] = std::tuple{std::vector<int>{3, 4, 5}, std::int32_t{12}}
A specific application of this is iterating over a map, getting the key and value,
std::unordered_map<K, V> m = { /*...*/ };
for (auto& [key, value] : m) {
// ...
}
See a live example here
C++14: You can do the same as C++11 (below) with the addition of type-based std::get
. So instead of std::get<0>(t)
in the below example, you can have std::get<int>(t)
.
C++11: std::make_pair
allows you to do this, as well as std::make_tuple
for more than two objects.
for (auto p = std::make_pair(5, std::string("Hello World")); p.first < 10; ++p.first) {
std::cout << p.second << '\n';
}
std::make_pair
will return the two arguments in a std::pair
. The elements can be accessed with .first
and .second
.
For more than two objects, you'll need to use a std::tuple
for (auto t = std::make_tuple(0, std::string("Hello world"), std::vector<int>{});
std::get<0>(t) < 10;
++std::get<0>(t)) {
std::cout << std::get<1>(t) << '\n'; // cout Hello world
std::get<2>(t).push_back(std::get<0>(t)); // add counter value to the vector
}
std::make_tuple
is a variadic template that will construct a tuple of any number of arguments (with some technical limitations of course). The elements can be accessed by index with std::get<INDEX>(tuple_object)
Within the for loop bodies you can easily alias the objects, though you still need to use .first
or std::get
for the for loop condition and update expression
for (auto t = std::make_tuple(0, std::string("Hello world"), std::vector<int>{});
std::get<0>(t) < 10;
++std::get<0>(t)) {
auto& i = std::get<0>(t);
auto& s = std::get<1>(t);
auto& v = std::get<2>(t);
std::cout << s << '\n'; // cout Hello world
v.push_back(i); // add counter value to the vector
}
C++98 and C++03 You can explicitly name the types of a std::pair
. There is no standard way to generalize this to more than two types though:
for (std::pair<int, std::string> p(5, "Hello World"); p.first < 10; ++p.first) {
std::cout << p.second << '\n';
}
You can't declare multiple types in the initialization, but you can assign to multiple types E.G.
{
int i;
char x;
for(i = 0, x = 'p'; ...){
...
}
}
Just declare them in their own scope.
I think best approach is xian's answer.
but...
# Nested for loop
This approach is dirty, but can solve at all version.
so, I often use it in macro functions.
for(int _int=0, /* make local variable */ \
loopOnce=true; loopOnce==true; loopOnce=false)
for(char _char=0; _char<3; _char++)
{
// do anything with
// _int, _char
}
Additional 1.
It can also be used to declare local variables
and initialize global variables
.
float globalFloat;
for(int localInt=0, /* decalre local variable */ \
_=1;_;_=0)
for(globalFloat=2.f; localInt<3; localInt++) /* initialize global variable */
{
// do.
}
Additional 2.
Good example : with macro function.
(If best approach can't be used because it is a for-loop-macro)
#define for_two_decl(_decl_1, _decl_2, cond, incr) \
for(_decl_1, _=1;_;_=0)\
for(_decl_2; (cond); (incr))
for_two_decl(int i=0, char c=0, i<3, i++)
{
// your body with
// i, c
}
# If-statement trick
if (A* a=nullptr);
else
for(...) // a is visible
If you want initialize to 0
or nullptr
, you can use this trick.
but I don't recommend this because of hard reading.
and it seems like bug.