Java continue Statement with Examples

In this quick article, we will discuss how and when to use the continue statement with examples.

The continue statement skips the current iteration of a for, while or do-while loop. The unlabeled form skips to the end of the innermost loop's body and evaluates the boolean expression that controls the loop.

Table of contents

1. Flow Diagram of a continue Statement
2. continue Statement Inside for Loop Example
3. Using continue Statement in while Loop Example
4. Using continue Statement in do-while Loop Example
5. Using continue Statement with Labeled for Loop

Syntax

continue word followed by a semicolon.

continue;

1. Flow Diagram of a continue Statement

2. continue Statement Inside for Loop Example

package net.javaguides.corejava.controlstatements.loops;

public class ContinueExample {
    public static void main(String args[]) {
        for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
            System.out.print(i + " ");
            if (i % 2 == 0)
                continue;
            System.out.println("");
        }
    }
}

This code uses the % operator to check if i is even. If it is, the loop continues without printing a newline. Here is the output from this program:

0 1
2 3
4 5
6 7
8 9

3. Using continue Statement in while Loop Example

package net.javaguides.corejava.controlstatements.loops;

public class ContinueExample {
    public static void main(String args[]) {
        int count = 10;
        while (count >= 0) {
            if (count == 7) {
                count--;
                continue;
            }
            System.out.println(count + " ");
            count--;
        }
    }
}

Output:

10 
9 
8 
6 
5 
4 
3 
2 
1 
0 

Note that we are iterating this loop from 10 to 0 for counter value and when the counter value is 7 the loop skipped the print statement and started the next iteration of the while loop.

4. Using continue Statement in do-while Loop Example

package net.javaguides.corejava.controlstatements.loops;

public class ContinueExample {
    public static void main(String args[]) {
        int j = 0;
        do {
            if (j == 7) {
                j++;
                continue;
            }
            System.out.print(j + " ");
            j++;
        } while (j < 10);

    }
}

Output:

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 9 

Note that we have skipped iteration when j==7.

5. Using continue Statement with Labeled for Loop

As with the break statement, continue may specify a label to describe which enclosing loop to continue. Here is an example program that uses continue to print a triangular multiplication table for 0 through 9:

package net.javaguides.corejava.controlstatements.loops;

public class ContinueLabel {
    public static void main(String args[]) {
        outer: for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
            for (int j = 0; j < 10; j++) {
                if (j > i) {
                    System.out.println();
                    continue outer;
                }
                System.out.print(" " + (i * j));
            }
        }
        System.out.println();
    }
}

Output:

 0
 0 1
 0 2 4
 0 3 6 9
 0 4 8 12 16
 0 5 10 15 20 25
 0 6 12 18 24 30 36
 0 7 14 21 28 35 42 49
 0 8 16 24 32 40 48 56 64
 0 9 18 27 36 45 54 63 72 81