Java Continue

Java continue

Created By: chatGPT

In Java, the continue statement is used within loops to skip the current iteration and proceed to the next iteration. This statement is particularly useful when you want to bypass certain conditions during loop execution. continue can be applied in both for and while loops. Let's look at a simple example.

for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
    if (i % 2 == 0) {
        continue; // Skip even numbers
    }
    System.out.println(i); // Print odd numbers only
}

In the example above, the loop iterates from 0 to 9. The if statement checks whether the current number i is even. If it is, the continue statement is executed, which causes the loop to skip the System.out.println(i); statement, effectively printing only the odd numbers.

Output:
1
3
5
7
9

You can also use the continue statement in a labeled loop. This is particularly handy when you have nested loops and want to skip iterations of the outer loop. Here's an example to illustrate this.

outer:
for (int i = 1; i <= 3; i++) {
    for (int j = 1; j <= 3; j++) {
        if (j == 2) {
            continue outer; // Skip the outer loop when j is 2
        }
        System.out.println("i: " + i + ", j: " + j);
    }
}

In this nested loop example, if j equals 2, the continue outer; statement is executed, which causes the execution to skip to the next iteration of the outer loop, essentially skipping the inner loop's remaining iterations for that outer loop iteration.

Output:
i: 1, j: 1
i: 2, j: 1
i: 3, j: 1

Using continue effectively can help improve the readability of your code by clarifying the intention behind loop control. However, be cautious; overusing it can make your code harder to follow. Always strive for a balance between clarity and compactness.