Java Break and Continue

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Java Break

The break statement is super useful when you need to exit a loop early or skip over some unnecessary steps. You’ve probably seen it in switch statements before, but it works wonders in loops too.

Here’s an example that stops the loop when the variable counter hits 4:

for (int counter = 0; counter < 10; counter++) {
  if (counter == 4) {
    break;
  }
  System.out.println("Counter: " + counter);
}




Java Continue

The continue statement is great for skipping the current iteration of a loop and moving straight to the next one. This can be handy when you want to bypass certain conditions.

For example, this code skips printing the value 4:

for (int counter = 0; counter < 10; counter++) {
  if (counter == 4) {
    continue;
  }
  System.out.println("Counter: " + counter);
}




Break and Continue in While Loops

You can use break and continue in while loops as well. Here are some examples:


Break Example in a While Loop

This loop stops when the variable index reaches 4:

int index = 0;
while (index < 10) {
  System.out.println("Index: " + index);
  index++;
  if (index == 4) {
    break;
  }
}

Continue Example in a While Loop

This loop skips the iteration when index is 4 and continues with the next one:

int index = 0;
while (index < 10) {
  if (index == 4) {
    index++;
    continue;
  }
  System.out.println("Index: " + index);
  index++;
}




Extra Tidbits

  • Nested Loops: You can use break to get out of nested loops. If you need to exit multiple loops at once, labeled loops can be handy.
  • Better Control: Combining break and continue with if-else statements gives you more control over your loops.
  • Efficiency: Using these statements wisely can help optimize loop performance by giving you finer control over when to stop or skip iterations.
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