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{{short description|Regulates the flow of control of a program}}
{{short description|Regulates the flow of control of a program}}
{{confuse|Control variable}}
{{confuse|text=[[Control variable|Control variables]] in science or [[Controlling for a variable]] in statistics}}
A '''control variable''' in [[computer programming]] is a [[program variable]] that is used to regulate the [[flow of control]] of the program.


In [[computer programming]], a '''control variable''' is a [[program variable]] that is used to regulate the [[flow of control]] of the program.
In definite iteration, control variables are variables which are successively assigned (or bound to) values from a predetermined sequence of values.<ref name="Watt">{{cite book |last1=Watt |first1=David A. |title=Programming Language Design Concepts |url=https://archive.org/details/programminglangu00watt_497 |url-access=limited |date=2004 |publisher=Wiley |pages=[https://archive.org/details/programminglangu00watt_497/page/n102 84]-85}}</ref>

In definite iteration, control variables are variables which are successively assigned (or bound to) values from a predetermined sequence.<ref name="Watt">{{cite book |last1=Watt |first1=David A. |title=Programming Language Design Concepts |url=https://archive.org/details/programminglangu00watt_497 |url-access=limited |date=2004 |publisher=Wiley |pages=[https://archive.org/details/programminglangu00watt_497/page/n102 84]-85}}</ref>


== Special rules ==
== Special rules ==
In some programming languages control variables are just ordinary variables used for manipulating the program flow. This is the case of [[C (programming language)|C]], [[Fortran]], and [[Pascal (programming language)|Pascal]], which allow for control variables to have their values changed within the loop body.<ref name="Watt"/> However, some languages have special rules for control variables. In [[Ada (programming language)|Ada]], for instance, the control variable of the for loop must remain constant within the loop body.
In some programming languages, control variables are just ordinary variables used for manipulating the program flow. This is the case of [[C (programming language)|C]], [[Fortran]], and [[Pascal (programming language)|Pascal]], which allow for control variables to have their values changed within the loop body.<ref name="Watt"/> However, some languages have special rules for control variables. In [[Ada (programming language)|Ada]], for instance, the control variable of a [[For loop|for-loop]] must remain constant within the loop body.


== References ==
== References ==

Revision as of 16:11, 21 April 2022

In computer programming, a control variable is a program variable that is used to regulate the flow of control of the program.

In definite iteration, control variables are variables which are successively assigned (or bound to) values from a predetermined sequence.[1]

Special rules

In some programming languages, control variables are just ordinary variables used for manipulating the program flow. This is the case of C, Fortran, and Pascal, which allow for control variables to have their values changed within the loop body.[1] However, some languages have special rules for control variables. In Ada, for instance, the control variable of a for-loop must remain constant within the loop body.

References

  1. ^ a b Watt, David A. (2004). Programming Language Design Concepts. Wiley. pp. 84-85.