Add a set number of times to loop

I probably sound like such a noob, but is there a way to have a loop be repeated a set number of times. I know I could just type it out a bunch of times, but i want it to repeat the code 5 times, and honestly I don't have the patience to write out my code again and again. If there is any solution to my problem it would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

this belongs in ask a pro
use the for command:

for var=1,5 do
print(var)
end

that will output:

1
2
3
4
5

You can use something like a repeat loop, or even a while loop.

Repeat loop:

i = 8
repeat
 -- code
 i = i - 1
until i < 1

While loop:

i = 8
while not i == 0 do
 -- code
 i = i - 1
end

Both of those loops should work, and only loop 8 times. Hope I helped!

you could do

while I = 1, 1 do
-- then the loop
end

cmurtheepic, on 21 December 2012 - 07:38 PM said:

you could do

while I = 1, 1 do
-- then the loop
end

I suppose you mean:

for I = 1, 1 do
-- then the loop
end

Which is the same as what PixelToast suggested.

To OP: The easiest would be to use the for loop, you can also go down in the loop and jump a specific times:

Decrementing:

for i = 15, 1, -1 do    -- The -1 makes the loop decrement by -1 each step
    print(i)
end

Output:

15, 14, 13, 12, ..., 3, 2, 1

Incrementing:

for i = 1, 20, 4 do    -- The 4 makes it jump 4 each time
    print(i)
end

Output:

1, 5, 9, 13, 17

I almost never use anything other than the standard increment behavior, if I want a multiple of the number of times the loop has actually executed I use i*m (m being my multiple and i being the for index/iteration/whatever). I do very occasionally use a decrement loop, those are pretty useful.

In other words, do what PixelToast says (only use for i=1,5 do, "i" is kinda a standard iteration identifier).

i usually use l1 and increase whenever i use a loop inside a loop

Yes, technically you can nest a loop and still use "i" as the identifier for the iterator value, but this prevents you from having access to the iterator values for the outer loops. And generally, if you're using nested loops, you'll want to be able to grab those. At least I pretty much always do.