In a C# (feel free to answer for other languages) loop, what's the difference between break and continue as a means to leave the structure of the loop, and go to the next iteration?
Example:
foreach (DataRow row in myTable.Rows)
{
if (someConditionEvalsToTrue)
{
break; //what's the difference between this and continue ?
//continue;
}
}
break
will exit the loop completely, continue
will just skip the current iteration.
For example:
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
if (i == 0) {
break;
}
DoSomeThingWith(i);
}
The break will cause the loop to exit on the first iteration - DoSomeThingWith
will never be executed. This here:
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
if(i == 0) {
continue;
}
DoSomeThingWith(i);
}
Will not execute DoSomeThingWith
for i = 0
, but the loop will continue and DoSomeThingWith
will be executed for i = 1
to i = 9
.
A really easy way to understand this is to place the word "loop" after each of the keywords. The terms now make sense if they are just read like everyday phrases.
break
loop - looping is broken and stops.
continue
loop - loop continues to execute with the next iteration.