Recognizing when to use the modulus operator

Question

I know the modulus (%) operator calculates the remainder of a division. How can I identify a situation where I would need to use the modulus operator?

I know I can u

Answer 1

As @jweyrich says, wrapping values. I've found mod very handy when I have a finite list and I want to iterate over it in a loop - like a fixed list of colors for some UI elements, like chart series, where I want all the series to be different, to the extent possible, but when I've run out of colors, just to start over at the beginning. This can also be used with, say, patterns, so that the second time red comes around, it's dashed; the third time, dotted, etc. - but mod is just used to get red, green, blue, red, green, blue, forever.