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Sometimes, you will want to be able to count how many times you have gone through a loop. Using a while loop and an integer variable, you can add this functionality. Without the ability to control the number of times a loop occurs, you would be forced to write out all of the commands each time you want to repeat. This leads to a needlessly long program and makes you a less effective programmer. The while loop is constructed like this:

As long as the NXT is on a white board, it will run continuously until it runs into the first black line. While this is going on, the NXT can't do anything but what is included in the while code block. Let's say that we setup a wall around our board. We don't want the NXT to crash into the wall so we need to add a second condition to the while loop. The NXT should leave the while loop if it gets too close to a wall. This would result in the NXT stopping.

A while loops acts in a very similar manner to an IF statement. Where an IF statement would run the attached code block only once, an IF loop will run the same code multiple times. As long as the conditional statement evaluates to TRUE as the start of the loop, the NXT remains in the loop. If isn't until the conditional statement evaluates to FALSE will it skip the code block and move onto the next part of the program.

The IF statement is the most basic logic command that all other logical structure is based on. This gives our NXT the ability to make choices based off of data. In a basic IF statement, a conditional statement determines if a block of code is executed or not. If the statement is TRUE, the block is executed, if the statement is FALSE, the block is skipped. Let's look at an example:

Computer logic is based around the ability of a computer to compare integers. Even the most complex choice can be boiled down to being able to determining if one number is greater than, less than, or equal to another number. This behavior forces us to form our logical instructions in a way that can be answered through evaluating two numbers. The result of this evaluation is a Boolean.