What is a 'while' loop?

A 'while' loop is designed to execute a block of code repeatedly as long as a specified condition evaluates to true. It begins with a condition check; if the condition is true, the loop executes the code within its block. After each iteration, the condition is checked again, and if it's still true, the loop continues. This makes 'while' loops particularly useful for scenarios where the number of iterations is not known beforehand and is instead dependent on a dynamic condition being met, such as waiting for user input or reading from a file until the end of file is reached.

This functionality distinguishes 'while' loops from other types of loops. For instance, a loop that runs a set number of times is more characteristic of a 'for' loop, which is explicitly defined to iterate a predetermined number of times. Similarly, iterating over items in a collection is often implemented using 'for' loops or 'foreach' loops, which are tailored for that exact purpose. A loop that creates a new array does not specifically relate to the structure or functionality of a 'while' loop, but rather is associated with initialization or array manipulation tasks.