Using Return in a Loop in PHP

The fact that return is located inside a loop is not always a mistake.

The following example shows a function that determines how many of the first elements of an array need to be added so that the sum becomes greater than or equal to 10:

php<?php
  function func($arr) {
    $length = count($arr);
    $sum = 0;
    
    for ($i = 0; $i < $length; $i++) {
      $sum += $arr[$i];
      
      // If the sum is greater than or equal to 10:
      if ($sum >= 10) {
        return $i + 1; // exit the loop and the function
      }
    }
  }
  
  $res = func([1, 2, 3, 4, 5]);
  echo $res;
?>

The following example shows a function that calculates how many integers, starting from 1, need to be added so that the result is greater than 100:

php<?php
  function func() {
    $sum = 0;
    $i = 1;
    
    while (true) { // infinite loop
      $sum += $i;
      
      if ($sum >= 100) {
        return $i; // the loop runs until it exits here
      }
      
      $i++;
    }
  }
  
  echo func();
?>