Understand the idea

break exits the nearest enclosing loop or switch. continue skips the rest of the current loop iteration and proceeds according to that loop form. Trace which lines run before and after each statement.

Explore the details

Controlling Loop Flow

Sometimes you need to exit a loop early or skip one iteration. Java gives you two keywords for this: break and continue.

The break Statement

break immediately exits the entire loop. No more iterations run — execution jumps to the line after the closing brace.

The continue Statement

continue skips the rest of the current iteration and jumps straight to the next one. The loop itself keeps running.

Using Both Together

// break — exit loop early
for (int i = 1; i <= 9; i++) {
    if (i == 5) break;
    System.out.print(i + " ");  // 1 2 3 4
}

// continue — skip one iteration
for (int i = 1; i <= 9; i++) {
    if (i % 2 == 0) continue;  // skip even
    System.out.print(i + " ");  // 1 3 5 7 9
}

// Labelled break — exit outer loop
outer:
for (int i = 1; i <= 3; i++) {
    for (int j = 1; j <= 3; j++) {
        if (i == 2 && j == 2) break outer;
        System.out.println(i + "," + j);
    }
}

A complete runnable example

This complete Main.java program focuses on the lesson idea. Reference fragments above may demonstrate individual statements; this example includes the imports, entry point, and supporting types it needs.

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        for (int n = 1; n <= 6; n++) {
            if (n == 2) continue;
            if (n == 5) break;
            System.out.println(n);
        }
    }
}

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Change it. Run it. Understand it.

Load this lesson example into the editor. Change one value or statement, predict the result, then press RUN to execute Java.

Make it your own

Your learning checkpoint

• Explain the example without reading the output first.
• Make the change requested in the practice task.
• Describe why the result changed—or why compilation failed.

Ready to move on? Follow the next lesson in course order, or return to the curriculum to review a prerequisite.