What is the "continue" keyword and how does it work in Java?

continue is kind of like goto. Are you familiar with break? It's easier to think about them in contrast:

• break terminates the loop (jumps to the code below it).

• continue terminates the rest of the processing of the code within the loop for the current iteration, but continues the loop.

A continue statement without a label will re-execute from the condition the innermost while or do loop, and from the update expression of the innermost for loop. It is often used to early-terminate a loop's processing and thereby avoid deeply-nested if statements. In the following example continue will get the next line, without processing the following statement in the loop.

while (getNext(line)) {
  if (line.isEmpty() || line.isComment())
    continue;
  // More code here
}

With a label, continue will re-execute from the loop with the corresponding label, rather than the innermost loop. This can be used to escape deeply-nested loops, or simply for clarity.

Sometimes continue is also used as a placeholder in order to make an empty loop body more clear.

for (count = 0; foo.moreData(); count++)
  continue;

The same statement without a label also exists in C and C++. The equivalent in Perl is next.

This type of control flow is not recommended, but if you so choose you can also use continue to simulate a limited form of goto. In the following example the continue will re-execute the empty for (;;) loop.

aLoopName: for (;;) {
  // ...
  while (someCondition)
  // ...
    if (otherCondition)
      continue aLoopName;

Let's see an example:

int sum = 0;
for(int i = 1; i <= 100 ; i++){
    if(i % 2 == 0)
         continue;
    sum += i;
}

This would get the sum of only odd numbers from 1 to 100.

If you think of the body of a loop as a subroutine, continue is sort of like return. The same keyword exists in C, and serves the same purpose. Here's a contrived example:

for(int i=0; i < 10; ++i) {
  if (i % 2 == 0) {
    continue;
  }
  System.out.println(i);
}

This will print out only the odd numbers.

Generally, I see continue (and break) as a warning that the code might use some refactoring, especially if the while or for loop declaration isn't immediately in sight. The same is true for return in the middle of a method, but for a slightly different reason.

As others have already said, continue moves along to the next iteration of the loop, while break moves out of the enclosing loop.

These can be maintenance timebombs because there is no immediate link between the continue/break and the loop it is continuing/breaking other than context; add an inner loop or move the "guts" of the loop into a separate method and you have a hidden effect of the continue/break failing.

IMHO, it's best to use them as a measure of last resort, and then to make sure their use is grouped together tightly at the start or end of the loop so that the next developer can see the "bounds" of the loop in one screen.

continue, break, and return (other than the One True Return at the end of your method) all fall into the general category of "hidden GOTOs". They place loop and function control in unexpected places, which then eventually causes bugs.

Continue is a keyword in Java & it is used to skip the current iteration.

Suppose you want to print all odd numbers from 1 to 100

public class Main {

    public static void main(String args[]) {

    //Program to print all odd numbers from 1 to 100

        for(int i=1 ; i<=100 ; i++) {
            if(i % 2 == 0) {
                continue;
            }
            System.out.println(i);
        }

    }
}

continue statement in the above program simply skips the iteration when i is even and prints the value of i when it is odd.

Continue statement simply takes you out of the loop without executing the remaining statements inside the loop and triggers the next iteration.

The continue statement is used in loop control structure when you need to jump to the next iteration of the loop immediately.

It can be used with for loop or while loop. The Java continue statement is used to continue the loop. It continues the current flow of the program and skips the remaining code at the specified condition.

In case of an inner loop, it continues the inner loop only.

We can use Java continue statement in all types of loops such as for loop, while loop and do-while loop.

for example

class Example{
    public static void main(String args[]){
        System.out.println("Start");
        for(int i=0; i<10; i++){
            if(i==5){continue;}
            System.out.println("i : "+i);   
        }
        System.out.println("End.");
    }
}

output:

Start
i : 0
i : 1
i : 2
i : 3
i : 4
i : 6
i : 7
i : 8
i : 9
End.

[number 5 is skip]

continue must be inside a loop Otherwise it showsThe error below:

Continue outside the loop