Synopsis: while () while () [{ }] Description: The WHILE loop is a sort of hybrid between the FOR loop and the IF control statement. It allows for repetitive action, as with FOR, but the loop iterates (performs the action) only if a specific condition is met, as with IF. The "condition" portion may contain any comparison or assignment allowed in an IF statement. Examples: To display a warning message 3 times: @ xx = 3 while ( xx > 0 ) { echo WARNING! This ship will self destruct in $xx seconds! @ xx-- } A infinite loop that behaves like the Unix 'yes' command: while ( 1 ) echo yes Aliases: UNTIL is the exact opposite of WHILE. It is essentially the same applying the negation operator (!) to the entire WHILE condition. See Also: fe(5); fec(5); for(5); foreach(5) Other Notes: WHILE has all of the capabilities of FOR, only in a different syntax. The distinction between the two is not great enough to warrant a recommendation of one over the other. If anything, FOR tends to be more concise than WHILE; however, this is not always the case.