Difference between for and for each loop in java

by February 2, 2021 Java

Let’s learn difference between for and for each loop in java.

Difference between for and for each loop in java

Here’s the difference between for and for each loop.

for loopfor each loop
There is no sequence in execution. Here in for loop we can change counter as per our wish.Executes in sequence. Counter is increased by one.
was introduced from start, JDK 1.was introduced from JDK 5 onwards.
no need of implementing interface.To loop over containers using for each loop, container should implement Iterable interface.
can have access to index. Hence can replace element in an array.can’t replace element at given index since there is no access to array index.
counter can increment and decrement.we can only iterate in incremental order cannot decrement.

Here’s the program on difference between for and for each loop.

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.List;
public class DifferenceBetween 
{
   public static void main(String[] args) 
   {
      List<String> players = new ArrayList<>(Arrays.asList("Virat", "Rohit", "Dhoni"));
      // iterate over List using for loop
      System.out.println("using for loop: ");
      for(int a = 0; a < players.size(); a++) 
      {
         System.out.println(players.get(a));
      }
      // iterate over List using enhanced for loop
      System.out.println("using for each loop: ");
      for(String str : players)
      {
         System.out.println(str);
      }
   }
}

Output:

using for loop:
Virat
Rohit
Dhoni
using for each loop:
Virat
Rohit
Dhoni

Also read – static keyword in java