# Range expressions

The expression `E1 to E2` returns a sequence of integers. For example, `1 to 5` returns the sequence `1, 2, 3, 4, 5`. This is useful in `for` expressions, for example the first five nodes of a node sequence can be processed by writing `for $i in 1 to 5 return (//x)[$i]`.

If you prefer, you can write this as `(//x)[position() = 1 to 5]`. This works because comparison of a single integer (`position()`) to a sequence of integers (`1 to 5`) is true if the integer on the left is equal to any integer in the sequence.

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