Kotlin Break and Continue

Break and continue are statements that change a loop in mid-turn. Break leaves the loop at once and continue skips to the next turn.

break leaves a for loop

The loop plans to walk from 1 to 10. Break stops it at 4 so only the values before 4 print.

fun main() {
    for (number in 1..10) {
        if (number == 4) {
            break
        }
        println(number)
    }
}

break ends a while loop

The while condition alone would allow many turns. Break ends the loop when the counter reaches 3.

fun main() {
    var count = 0
    while (count < 10) {
        count++
        if (count == 3) {
            break
        }
    }
    println(count)
}

continue skips even numbers

Continue sends each even number straight to the next turn. Only the odd numbers reach the print line.

fun main() {
    for (number in 1..6) {
        if (number % 2 == 0) {
            continue
        }
        println(number)
    }
}

continue skips one letter in a word

The loop walks the letters of the word in order. Continue skips each letter a and the other letters print one per line.

fun main() {
    for (letter in "banana") {
        if (letter == 'a') {
            continue
        }
        println(letter)
    }
}

Example

fun main() {
    var checks = 0
    for (number in 1..8) {
        if (number % 2 == 0) {
            continue
        }
        checks++
        if (number == 7) {
            break
        }
    }
    println(checks)
}

Key points

break: a statement that leaves a loop at once.
continue: a statement that skips the rest of the current turn.
Use if inside a loop to choose the turn where break or continue runs.
After break, the code after the loop runs next.
After continue, the loop moves to its next value.

In this example, checks starts at 0. The loop walks the numbers 1 to 8 and continue skips each even number. Each odd number adds 1 to checks. The numbers 1 and 3 and 5 bring checks to 3. The number 7 brings checks to 4 and break ends the loop. The print shows 4.

Note

The test number % 2 == 0 is true exactly for even numbers.

Try it Yourself

Edit the code, then press Run.

Running is simulated · Kotlin Playground

fun main() {
    var checks = 0
    for (number in 1..8) {
        if (number % 2 == 0) {
            continue
        }
        checks++
        if (number == 7) {
            break
        }
    }
    println(checks)
}

Exercise

A loop prints the odd numbers from 1 to 6 and skips the evens with continue. What prints on the last line?

6 3 5 1