How to Write a While Loop in Go Using for

Go does not have a dedicated while keyword; instead, you use the for statement with a condition and no initialization or post statements to create a while loop. The syntax is simply for condition { }, which continues executing the block as long as the condition evaluates to true.

Here is a basic example that counts down from 5 to 1:

package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
    i := 5
    for i > 0 {
        fmt.Println(i)
        i--
    }
}

You can also use this pattern for waiting on external conditions, such as checking a channel or a flag. In this case, the loop runs until a specific state changes:

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "time"
)

func main() {
    ready := false
    go func() {
        time.Sleep(2 * time.Second)
        ready = true
    }()

    for !ready {
        fmt.Print(".")
        time.Sleep(100 * time.Millisecond)
    }
    fmt.Println("\nReady!")
}

Remember that if the condition is always true, you create an infinite loop (for { }), which is common for server main loops or event handlers. To exit these, you must use break, return, or panic inside the block. Unlike C or Java, Go's for loop is the only looping construct, so mastering this pattern is essential for control flow.

Go combines for, while, and do-while loops into a single for statement. To create a while loop, simply omit the setup and cleanup parts of the for statement and keep only the condition. It works like a standard while loop in other languages, repeating code as long as the condition remains true.