The continue
statement is used within loops (such as for
or while
loops) to skip the remaining code in the current iteration and move to the next iteration. It allows us to control the flow of the loop based on certain conditions.
Let's take an example of a for
loop with a continue
statement:
numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] for num in numbers: if num == 3: continue print(num)
In this code, we have a for
loop that iterates over the numbers
list. When the value of num
is equal to 3
, the continue
statement is encountered, and the remaining code in that iteration is skipped. The loop then moves to the next iteration.
Click the run button to see the output. You should see:
1
2
4
5
In this example, the number 3
is skipped due to the continue
statement, and the loop continues with the next iteration.
The break
statement is used within loops to terminate the loop prematurely. It allows us to exit the loop entirely based on certain conditions.
Let's take an example of a while
loop with a break
statement:
count = 0 while True: print(count) count += 1 if count == 5: break
In this code, we have a while
loop that runs indefinitely (while True
). Inside the loop, we print the value of count
and increment it by 1
. When the value of count
becomes 5
, the break
statement is encountered, and the loop is terminated.
Click the run button to see the output. You should see:
0
1
2
3
4
In this example, the loop runs until the value of count
reaches 5
. At that point, the break
statement is encountered, and the loop is terminated.
To run a block of code if the for
loop never encounters a break
statement, learn about the for-else structure.