The 'Continue' Statement in Java Loops

In Java, as in many other programming languages, the continue keyword is used within loops to skip the remainder of the current iteration and move directly to the next one.

continue

In simpler terms, when a 'continue' statement is encountered in a loop, it tells the program: "Skip the rest of this iteration and jump to the next one."

This means that the loop itself doesn’t stop, only the current iteration is bypassed.

Any code following the 'continue' statement for that specific iteration is ignored, but the loop continues running.

Unlike the 'break' statement, which exits the loop entirely, the 'continue' statement allows the loop to proceed, skipping only the current iteration. In essence, 'continue' moves the execution to the next iteration, ignoring any code that follows it within the current loop cycle.

Let's look at a practical example.

Imagine you have a `for` loop that iterates over the numbers from 1 to 10, and you want to print all the numbers except 5. How can you achieve that? The 'continue' statement is the perfect solution.

public class ContinueExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        for (int i = 1; i <= 10; i++) {
            if (i == 5) {
                continue;  // Skip number 5
            }
            System.out.println(i);
        }
    }
}

Here’s what this code does: it initiates a loop that runs from 1 to 10, but every time the number 5 is reached, the continue statement is executed.

When this happens, the program skips printing 5 and moves directly to the next number. The output will be:

1
2
3
4
6
7
8
9
10

Here’s another example that’s a bit more realistic.

Let’s say you're working with an array of numbers, and you want to skip over the negative numbers, printing only the positive ones.

public class ContinueWithArray {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        int[] numbers = {3, -1, 4, -2, 5, -6};

        for (int number : numbers) {
            if (number < 0) {
                continue;  // Skip negative numbers
            }
            System.out.println("Positive number: " + number);
        }
    }
}

In this case, whenever the loop encounters a negative number, the continue statement is triggered, skipping the print statement for that number and moving on to the next one. The output will be:

Positive number: 3
Positive number: 4
Positive number: 5

When should you avoid using 'continue'?

While useful, overusing the 'continue' statement can make your code harder to read.

If you have too many jump statements like 'continue' or 'break', it could lead to logic that becomes difficult to follow.

It’s best to use 'continue' when it genuinely improves the clarity of your code.

The 'continue' statement is particularly useful when you need to skip over certain elements in a list or values that don’t meet a condition. However, overusing it can make your code more confusing to read and understand.

If you find yourself relying on it too often, it might be a good idea to pause and consider a cleaner solution—perhaps by restructuring the loop or simplifying the logic with different methods.

After all, as I always say, getting things to work is one thing… but getting them to work well is something else entirely!