As we know in programming execution of code is done line by line.Now in order to alter this flow C++ provides two statements break and coninue which mainly used to skip some specific code at specific line.
Following are the important differences between continue and break.
| Sr. No. | Key | Break | Continue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Functionality | Break statement mainly used to terminate the enclosing loop such as while, do-while, for or switch statement wherever break is declared. | Continue statement mainly skip the rest of loop wherever continue is declared and execute the next iteration. |
| 2 | Executional flow | Break statement resumes the control of the program to the end of loop and made executional flow outside that loop. | Continue statement resumes the control of the program to the next iteration of that loop enclosing 'continue' and made executional flow inside the loop again. |
| 3 | Usage | As mentioned break is used for the termination of enclosing loop. | On other hand continue causes early execution of the next iteration of the enclosing loop. |
| 4 | Compatibility | Break statement can be used and compatible with 'switch', 'label'. | We can't use continue statement with 'switch','lablel' as it is not compatible with them. |
Example of Continue vs Break
JavaTester.java
Example
public class JavaTester{
public static void main(String args[]){
// Illustrating break statement (execution stops when value of i becomes to 4.)
System.out.println("Break Statement\n");
for(int i=1;i<=5;i++){
if(i==4) break;
System.out.println(i);
}
// Illustrating continue statement (execution skipped when value of i becomes to 1.)
System.out.println("Continue Statement\n");
for(int i=1;i<=5;i++){
if(i==1) continue;
System.out.println(i);
}
}
}Output
Break Statement 1 2 3 Continue Statement 2 3 4 5