Java Loops: continue

continue can be used to immediately continue to the next iteration of the loop (or exit the loop if the loop condition no longer holds).

while (…) { if (something) { continue; } }

In for loops, a continue statement jumps directly to the update statement and then on to the next iteration of the loop (or exits the loop if the loop condition no longer holds).

for (init; cond; step) { if (something) { continue; } }

Example: At iteration 3, skip print statement

for (int i = 1; i <= 5; i++) {
    if (i == 3) {
        continue;
    }
    System.out.println(i);
}

Output:

1
2
4
5

In enhanced for loops the behavior is similar: the loop variable is updated to point to the next element and the next iteration runs.

Example: Process all unprocessed orders

for (Order order : orders) {
    if (order.isProcessed()) {
        // Continue to next order
        continue;
    }
    process(order);
}

Nested Loops

By default continue only applies to the immediately enclosing loop. To make an outer loop continue, use labelled statements.

Example: Continuing an inner vs an outer loop

while (…) { while (…) { continue; } }
outer: while (…) { while (…) { continue outer; } }

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