The for loop is used in Java to execute a block of code repeatedly for a fixed number of times, based on a given condition. It is often used in situations where you want to perform an action a specific number of times. The for loop has three parts: initialization, condition and increment/decrement. The step would refer to the increment or decrement in the loop.
Here's an example of a simple for loop with a step of 2 that prints even numbers between 0 and 10:
for (int i = 0; i <= 10; i+=2) {
System.out.print(i + " ");
}
Output:
0 2 4 6 8 10
In this example, the loop starts with an initialization of int i = 0. The loop will execute as long as the condition i <= 10 is true. And after each iteration of the loop, the i variable will be incremented by 2 (i+=2).
Here's another example of a for loop with a step of -1 that counts down from 10 to 1:
for (int i = 10; i >= 1; i--) {
System.out.print(i + " ");
}
Output:
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
In this example, the loop starts with an initialization of int i = 10. The loop will execute as long as the condition i >= 1 is true. And after each iteration of the loop, the i variable will be decremented by 1 (i--).
So, using steps in a for loop allows you to control the increment or decrement of the loop variable, allowing you to make the loop more flexible to suit your needs.