What is the Continue statement in Java?

Control statements are the fundamentals of Java programming language which basically allows the smooth flow of a program. To jump to the next iteration of the loop, we make use of the java continue statement. This statement continues the current flow of the program and skips a part of the code at the specified condition.

• What is continue statement in Java?
• Syntax
• Flow Diagram of Java continue statement
• Continue Statement Examples
  • • If Loop
    • For loop
    • While Loop
    • Do-while loop

Let’s get started.

What is continue statement in Java?

Java continue statement is allowed only inside a loop body. When continue executes, the current iteration of the loop body terminates, and execution continues with the next iteration of the loop. In simple terms, it continues the flow of the program and skips the rest of the code at that specific condition. Let us understand continue statement in Java with the help of a real-time example.

Example (incoming call and an alarm):

• • Suppose we are on a call and the alarm is scheduled during the call time, then the alarm trigger recognizes the call event
  • Once the call event is noted, the phone continues the alarm to ring at the next snooze period. This is how continue essentially works.

Let us now look at the syntax to demonstrate the Java Continue statement.

Syntax of Java Continue:

if(conditition)
{
continue;
}

The syntax is just the ‘continue’ keyword followed by a semicolon.

Moving ahead, let’s see how this continue statement works in Java.

Flow Diagram of Java Continue Statement

In this flowchart, the code will respond in the following steps:

1. First of all, it will enter the loop where it checks the condition. If the loop condition is false, it directly exits the loop.
2. After that it will check for ‘continue’ statement. If it is present, then the statements after that will not be executed in the same iteration of the loop.
3. If  ‘continue’ statement is not present, then all the statements after that will be executed.

Continue Statement Examples

It is used in loops (while, for, do-while) and in a switch case. Let us execute all of them one by one.

Continue Statement – If Loop 

public class ContinueExample{
public static void main(String args[]){
for (int i=0; i<=5; i++)
{
if (i==2)
{
continue; //skips the rest of the statement
}

System.out.print(i+" ");
}
}
}

Output: 0 1 3 4 5

Explanation: The above output dislays all the numbers except 2.  When the control statement is encountered, it jumps to the next iteration, skipping the statements for current iteration. It simply skips the rest of the code whenever “continue” construct is used.

Continue Statement Example – For Loop

For loop is used when they need to iterate a part of the programs multiple times. It is particularly used in cases where the number of iterations is fixed! Let’s understand the same with an example code below: 

public class ContinueExample{
public static void main(String[] args) {
for(int i=0;i<=5;i++){
if(i==2){
continue;
}
System.out.println(i);
}
}
} 

Output:
0
1
3
4
5

Explanation: The above output displays all the number except 2.

Continue Statement Example- While Loop 

The Java while loop is used to iterate a part of the program again and again. If the number of iteration is not fixed, then you can use while loop. Now let’s understand continue statement example with While loop. Refer the below code:

public class ContinueExample{
public static void main(String args[]){
int i=10;
while (i >=0)
{
if (i==5)
{
i--;
continue;
}
System.out.print(i+" ");
i--;
}
}
}

Output: 10 9 8 7 6 4 3 2 1 0

Continue Statement Example – Do While Loop 

Do-while loop is similar to while loop, but it possesses one dissimilarity: In while loop, the condition is evaluated before the execution of loop’s body but in do-while loop condition is evaluated after the execution of loop’s body. Refer the code below:

public class ContinueExample{
public static void main(String args[]){
int i=1;
do
{
if (i==5)
{
i++;
continue;
}
System.out.print(i+ " ");
i++;
}while(i<10);

}
}

Output: 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9

With this, we come to an end of this Continue Statements in Java Article. The control statements in java must be used efficiently to make the program effective and user-friendly.

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