Mastering Java’s Continue Statement

Control Flow in Java: Mastering the Continue Statement

When working with loops in Java, it’s essential to understand how to control the flow of your program. The continue statement is a powerful tool that allows you to skip specific statements or terminate a loop. In this article, we’ll explore the continue statement in depth, including its syntax, usage, and best practices.

Understanding the Continue Statement

The continue statement skips the current iteration of a loop (for, while, do…while, etc.) and moves the program control to the end of the loop. The test expression is then evaluated, and the loop continues with the next iteration.

Syntax of the Continue Statement

The continue statement is typically used within decision-making statements (if…else statements).

Working with the Continue Statement

Let’s consider an example where we use a for loop to print the value of i in each iteration. We’ll use the continue statement to skip printing certain values.

java
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
if (i > 4 && i < 9) {
continue;
}
System.out.println(i);
}


In this example, the continue statement skips printing the values 5, 6, 7, and 8.

Java Continue with Nested Loop

When working with nested loops, the continue statement skips the current iteration of the innermost loop.

java
int i = 0;
while (i < 3) {
int j = 0;
while (j < 3) {
if (j == 2) {
j++;
continue;
}
System.out.println("Inner Loop: " + j);
j++;
}
System.out.println("Outer Loop: " + i);
i++;
}


In this example, the continue statement skips the iteration of the inner loop when j is 2.

Labeled Continue Statement

Java also provides a labeled continue statement, which includes the label of the loop along with the continue keyword.

java
first:
for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
for (int j = 0; j < 3; j++) {
if (i == 3 || j == 2) {
continue first;
}
System.out.println("i: " + i + ", j: " + j);
}
}


In this example, the labeled continue statement skips the current iteration of the loop labeled as first.

By mastering the continue statement, you can write more efficient and effective Java programs. Remember to use the continue statement judiciously and refactor your code to make it more readable.