Break and Continue Statements

The break and continue statements give you control over loop execution. Use them to exit loops early or skip iterations.

The break Statement

break immediately exits the loop:


csharp
1for (int i = 1; i <= 10; i++)
2{
3    if (i == 5)
4    {
5        break;  // Exit the loop
6    }
7    Console.WriteLine(i);
8}
9Console.WriteLine("Done");

Output


11
22
33
44
5Done

The loop stops when i equals 5, and 5 is never printed.

break Use Cases

Search and Stop


csharp
1int[] numbers = { 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42 };
2int searchFor = 16;
3int foundIndex = -1;
4
5for (int i = 0; i < numbers.Length; i++)
6{
7    if (numbers[i] == searchFor)
8    {
9        foundIndex = i;
10        break;  // Found it, no need to continue
11    }
12}
13
14if (foundIndex >= 0)
15{
16    Console.WriteLine($"Found at index {foundIndex}");
17}

User Quits


csharp
1while (true)
2{
3    Console.Write("Enter command (q to quit): ");
4    string input = Console.ReadLine() ?? "";
5
6    if (input.ToLower() == "q")
7    {
8        break;  // Exit the infinite loop
9    }
10
11    Console.WriteLine($"Processing: {input}");
12}
13Console.WriteLine("Goodbye!");

First Match


csharp
1string[] names = { "Alice", "Bob", "Charlie", "Diana" };
2string firstWithA = "";
3
4foreach (string name in names)
5{
6    if (name.StartsWith("A"))
7    {
8        firstWithA = name;
9        break;
10    }
11}
12
13Console.WriteLine($"First name starting with A: {firstWithA}");

The continue Statement

continue skips the rest of the current iteration and moves to the next:


csharp
1for (int i = 1; i <= 5; i++)
2{
3    if (i == 3)
4    {
5        continue;  // Skip the rest of this iteration
6    }
7    Console.WriteLine(i);
8}

Output

The number 3 is skipped.

continue Use Cases

Skip Invalid Items


csharp
1string[] inputs = { "5", "abc", "10", "", "15" };
2int sum = 0;
3
4foreach (string input in inputs)
5{
6    if (!int.TryParse(input, out int number))
7    {
8        continue;  // Skip non-numeric inputs
9    }
10    sum += number;
11}
12
13Console.WriteLine($"Sum: {sum}");  // 30

Skip Odd Numbers


csharp
1for (int i = 1; i <= 10; i++)
2{
3    if (i % 2 != 0)
4    {
5        continue;  // Skip odd numbers
6    }
7    Console.WriteLine(i);
8}
9// Output: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10

Process Valid Records


csharp
1string[] records = { "Alice,25", "invalid", "Bob,30", "", "Charlie,28" };
2
3foreach (string record in records)
4{
5    if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(record) || !record.Contains(","))
6    {
7        continue;  // Skip invalid records
8    }
9
10    string[] parts = record.Split(',');
11    Console.WriteLine($"Name: {parts[0]}, Age: {parts[1]}");
12}

break vs continue


csharp
1// break: exits the loop entirely
2for (int i = 1; i <= 5; i++)
3{
4    if (i == 3) break;
5    Console.Write($"{i} ");
6}
7// Output: 1 2
8
9Console.WriteLine();
10
11// continue: skips to next iteration
12for (int i = 1; i <= 5; i++)
13{
14    if (i == 3) continue;
15    Console.Write($"{i} ");
16}
17// Output: 1 2 4 5

break in Nested Loops

break only exits the innermost loop:


csharp
1for (int i = 1; i <= 3; i++)
2{
3    for (int j = 1; j <= 3; j++)
4    {
5        if (j == 2)
6        {
7            break;  // Only exits inner loop
8        }
9        Console.Write($"({i},{j}) ");
10    }
11    Console.WriteLine();
12}

Output


1(1,1)
2(2,1)
3(3,1)

Exiting Multiple Loops

Use a flag or goto (rarely needed):


csharp
1// Using a flag
2bool found = false;
3
4for (int i = 0; i < 10 && !found; i++)
5{
6    for (int j = 0; j < 10 && !found; j++)
7    {
8        if (i * j == 42)
9        {
10            Console.WriteLine($"Found: {i} * {j} = 42");
11            found = true;
12        }
13    }
14}

Practical Examples

Menu Loop with Exit


csharp
1while (true)
2{
3    Console.WriteLine("\n1. Option A");
4    Console.WriteLine("2. Option B");
5    Console.WriteLine("3. Exit");
6    Console.Write("Choose: ");
7
8    string choice = Console.ReadLine() ?? "";
9
10    switch (choice)
11    {
12        case "1":
13            Console.WriteLine("Option A selected");
14            break;  // Exits switch, not while loop
15        case "2":
16            Console.WriteLine("Option B selected");
17            break;
18        case "3":
19            Console.WriteLine("Exiting...");
20            goto ExitLoop;  // Or use a flag
21        default:
22            continue;  // Invalid input, show menu again
23    }
24}
25ExitLoop:
26Console.WriteLine("Goodbye!");

Skip Comments in Data


csharp
1string[] lines = {
2    "# This is a comment",
3    "Alice,100",
4    "# Another comment",
5    "Bob,200",
6    "Charlie,300"
7};
8
9int total = 0;
10
11foreach (string line in lines)
12{
13    if (line.StartsWith("#") || string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(line))
14    {
15        continue;  // Skip comments and empty lines
16    }
17
18    string[] parts = line.Split(',');
19    if (int.TryParse(parts[1], out int value))
20    {
21        total += value;
22    }
23}
24
25Console.WriteLine($"Total: {total}");  // 600

Find Prime Numbers


csharp
1Console.WriteLine("Prime numbers from 2 to 50:");
2
3for (int num = 2; num <= 50; num++)
4{
5    bool isPrime = true;
6
7    for (int i = 2; i < num; i++)
8    {
9        if (num % i == 0)
10        {
11            isPrime = false;
12            break;  // Not prime, stop checking
13        }
14    }
15
16    if (!isPrime)
17    {
18        continue;  // Skip non-primes
19    }
20
21    Console.Write($"{num} ");
22}
23// Output: 2 3 5 7 11 13 17 19 23 29 31 37 41 43 47

Summary

In this lesson, you learned:

break immediately exits the current loop
continue skips the rest of the current iteration
Both only affect the innermost loop in nested loops
Use break for early termination (found item, quit command)
Use continue to skip unwanted items (invalid data, filtered items)

Now let's practice with hands-on workshops!