for ( int row = 1; row <= 4; row++ )
{
  for ( int col=1; col <= 8; col++ )
  {
    System.out.print( "*" );
  }
  System.out.println( );
}

Run Output:

********
********
********
********

For each occurrence of the outer row loop, the inner col loop will print 8 stars, terminated by the newline character.

The action of nested loops can be analyzed using a chart:

Suppose we wanted to write a method that prints out the following 7-line pattern of stars:

Here is an analysis of the problem, line-by-line.

For a picture of N lines, each line L will have (L-1) spaces and (N-L+1) stars.

A method to print a pattern of stars:

Print N lines of stars, each Line L consists of
     (L-1) spaces
     (N-L+1) stars
     a line feed

void picture ( int n )
{
  int line, spaces, stars, loop;

  for ( line = 1; line <= n; line++ )
  {
    spaces = line - 1;
    for ( loop = 1; loop <= spaces; loop++ )
    {
      System.out.print (" "); // print a blank space
    }
    stars = n - line + 1;
    for ( loop = 1; loop <= stars; loop++ )
    {
      System.out.print ("*");
    }
    System.out.println();
  }
}