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Gforth Manual

3.19 Counted loops

: ^ ( n1 u -- n ) \ n = the uth power of u1 1 swap 0 u+do over * loop nip ; 3 2 ^ . 4 3 ^ .

U+do (from `compat/loops.fs', if your Forth system doesn't have it) takes two numbers of the stack ( u3 u4 -- ), and then performs the code between u+do and loop for u3-u4 times (or not at all, if u3-u4<0).

You can see the stack effect design rules at work in the stack effect of the loop start words: Since the start value of the loop is more frequently constant than the end value, the start value is passed on the top-of-stack.

You can access the counter of a counted loop with i:

: fac ( u -- u! ) 1 swap 1+ 1 u+do i * loop ; 5 fac . 7 fac .

There is also +do, which expects signed numbers (important for deciding whether to enter the loop).

Assignment:

Write a definition for computing the nth Fibonacci number.

You can also use increments other than 1:

: up2 ( n1 n2 -- ) +do i . 2 +loop ; 10 0 up2 : down2 ( n1 n2 -- ) -do i . 2 -loop ; 0 10 down2

Reference: 5.8.3 Counted Loops.