What is syntax sugar and how does it work?

Question

I have seen in some blogs the use of that term and would like to know:

1) The real meaning of this expression and;

2) How a syntax sugar as the example below in the language java?

for (Foo foo : listFoo) {
    //CÓDIGO AQUI
}

Answer 1

Literally, syntax sugar is a type of construction made to "sweeten" the code, ie do something in a simpler way.

Considering his example of for-each. Before Java 5, the new "sweetened" construction and the introduction of generics in the language, here is an equivalent code:

for (Iterator i = listFoo.iterator(); i.hasNext(); ) {
    Foo foo = (Foo) i.next();    
    // CÓDIGO AQUI
}

The version with the for-each is certainly simpler and less susceptible to failure.

---

Sources:

• SOE: Which is more Efficient, a for-each loop, or an iterator?
• Java Language Specification: 14.14.2. The Enhanced for statement

Answer 2

In computer science, syntactic sugar is the syntax within a programming language that is designed to make things easier to read or express. This makes the language "sweeter" for human use: things can be expressed more clearly, more concisely, or in an alternative style that some may prefer.

Translated from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syntactic_sugar

This for iterates on all elements of listFoo, placing at each iteration the current element inside the variable foo.