C - Programming, break and continue

break

The break statement ends the loop immediately when it is encountered. Its syntax is:

break;

The break statement is almost always used with if...else statement inside the loop.

---

How break statement works?

---

Example 1: break statement

// Program to calculate the sum of numbers (10 numbers max)
// If the user enters a negative number, the loop terminates

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
   int i;
   double number, sum = 0.0;

   for (i = 1; i <= 10; ++i) {
      printf("Enter a n%d: ", i);
      scanf("%lf", &number);

      // if the user enters a negative number, break the loop
      if (number < 0.0) {
         break;
      }

      sum += number; // sum = sum + number;
   }

   printf("Sum = %.2lf", sum);

   return 0;
}

Output

Enter a n1: 2.4
Enter a n2: 4.5
Enter a n3: 3.4
Enter a n4: -3
Sum = 10.30

This program calculates the sum of a maximum of 10 numbers. Why a maximum of 10 numbers? It's because if the user enters a negative number, the break statement is executed. This will end the for loop, and the sum is displayed.

---

continue

The continue statement skips the current iteration of the loop and continues with the next iteration. Its syntax is:

continue;

The continue statement is almost always used with the if...else statement.

---

How continue statement works?

---

Example 2: continue statement

// Program to calculate the sum of numbers (10 numbers max)
// If the user enters a negative number, it's not added to the result

#include <stdio.h>
int main() {
   int i;
   double number, sum = 0.0;

   for (i = 1; i <= 10; ++i) {
      printf("Enter a n%d: ", i);
      scanf("%lf", &number);

      if (number < 0.0) {
         continue;
      }

      sum += number; // sum = sum + number;
   }

   printf("Sum = %.2lf", sum);

   return 0;
}

Output

Enter a n1: 1.1
Enter a n2: 2.2
Enter a n3: 5.5
Enter a n4: 4.4
Enter a n5: -3.4
Enter a n6: -45.5
Enter a n7: 34.5
Enter a n8: -4.2
Enter a n9: -1000
Enter a n10: 12
Sum = 59.70

In this program, when the user enters a positive number, the sum is calculated using sum += number; statement.

When the user enters a negative number, the continue statement is executed and it skips the negative number from the calculation.

<<Back                                                                                                          Next>>