FOR/NEXT loops have lots of uses, but they're often associated with arrays because they're a simple way to perform the same operation on every member of the set. Like so: FOR I=0 TO 7 A[I]=2 NEXT In the first line, the variable I is created and given the value 0. When the program reaches the NEXT, it adds 1 to I. If I isn't more than 7, it goes back up to the top and repeats the loop.

It's a very neat way of performing a set of instructions FOR every value of I from 0 TO 7. Why is it I? Since the variable often isn't important anywhere outside the loop, programmers just come up with some "throwaway" name for a variable that they're not going to use anywhere else. I stands for "iterator", and it's become sort of traditional for programmers to use it in FOR loops.

It's the same way generic algebra equations often use X for their variable if the person writing the equation doesn't have a good reason to call it something else.

ok, so to see if i have this, I=0 to 7, makes 0, and when looped it adds +1 to the value, until the value reaches its max [7] (so its a counting trigger of sorts.

Exactly. :) If you want a very clear demonstration, run this program: FOR I=0 TO 7 PRINT I NEXT That'll show you how I changes as it loops and where it ends.

I recommend confirming finally stored value in i with the following codes. It must be 8. FOR I=0 TO 7 PRINT I NEXT I PRINT"Finally i is ",i

did this just fooling around with it, its dumb but I love the outcome. thanks for the help with starting to understand programing.