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I have little to no understanding of how Mathematica handles scoping, so the question may seem a little bit funny.

What is the preferred way:

Test[] = Module[{},
   Do[Print["Hello ", i], {i, 5, 50, 5}];
   ];
Test[];

Or:

Test[] = Module[{i},
   Do[Print["Hello ", i], {i, 5, 50, 5}];
   ];
Test[];
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    $\begingroup$ First option is all you need. Mathematica handles scoping a couple of different ways. Table/Do/etc. create their own scope for an iterator, and I believe they use textual scoping just like With (but unlike Block and Module). This may help: reference.wolfram.com/language/guide/ScopingConstructs.html. In particular look at "Learning Resources". $\endgroup$
    – mfvonh
    Commented Dec 2, 2014 at 20:41
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    $\begingroup$ One way to test such things is to use, and show, an explicit setting for your symbol. Try for example this small variation on your code: Module[{i=-20}, Do[Print["Hello ", i], {i, 5, 50, 5}]; i]. Notice that the i at the end is the Module variable and is not related to the i of the loop. $\endgroup$
    – Daniel Lichtblau
    Commented Dec 2, 2014 at 20:48
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    $\begingroup$ @mfvonh Actually Table & related functions use the same type of scoping as Block (not like With). Try Table[i = 1; Print[i], {i, 5}]. $\endgroup$
    – Szabolcs
    Commented Dec 2, 2014 at 21:00
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    $\begingroup$ Also check the thirds heading here $\endgroup$
    – Szabolcs
    Commented Dec 2, 2014 at 21:02
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    $\begingroup$ for entertainment ask a "c" programmer what this does.. i = {4, 5}; Do[Do[ Print[ i ] , {i, i}], {i, i}] $\endgroup$
    – george2079
    Commented Dec 2, 2014 at 21:05

1 Answer 1

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One type of scoping uses "textual" replacement, meaning the symbolic layer of evaluation is bypassed. For example:

With[{i = 1}, SymbolName[Unevaluated[i]]]

enter image description here

SymbolName[Unevaluated[1]]

This property of With makes it very handy sometimes, simply as a way to avoid evaluation where it is not wanted. I learned this myself in this question.

Compare that to:

Block[{i = 1}, SymbolName[Unevaluated[i]]]

i

Module[{i = 1}, SymbolName[Unevaluated[i]]]

i$24225

And turns out my comment above was inaccurate. Table does not use textual scoping:

Table[SymbolName[Unevaluated[i]], {i, 1, 1}]

{i}

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