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Difference Between Break and Continue in Python

Basics of Python

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Both Break and Continue statements are known as jump statements, as they transfer the control of the program to other parts of the program. They are always used within a loop. The break statement is used to exit the current loop, whereas the continue statement moves the current loop iteration to the next loop. Let’s explore the key differences between break and continue statements in detail.

Break Statement

The break statement terminates or ends the enclosing loop, such as for, do-while, etc. When the compiler encounters a break statement, all iterations in the loop terminate, and control comes outside the loop. It is used when you want to stop the loop early.

Syntax: break

Working of Break Statement

The break statement ends the natural flow of the loop. In a loop, when a break is encountered, the loop terminates, and the flow of the program is shifted to the next line of the code. To understand it better, see the flow chart given below.

Python Implementation of Break Statement

Let’s dive deep into the implementation of the break statement in the Python programming language.

Example 1: Break statement with For loop

# break statement with for loop

# define the list

lis = [1, 0, -3, 99, 10, 42, 2]

# target number

result = 42

# iterating over the list

for item in lis:

if item == result:

print("Found the target number")

# used break to terminate the loop when target number is found

break

Output:

Found the target number

In the above example, the break statement is used to terminate the loop when the target number is found.

Example 2: Break statement with While loop

# break statement with while loop

# declaring variable

i = 0

# while loop

while True:

print(i, " ", end = "")

# increasing the value by 1

i = i + 1

if i == 9:

# when value become 9

# used break to terminate the loop

break

print("loop ends")

Output:

0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  loop ends

In the above example, the break statement is used to terminate the loop when the value of variable “i” becomes 9.

Example 3: Break statement with Multiple loops

# break statement with multiple loops

# define the 2-D array

arr = [[21, 22, 23], [14, 15, 16], [47, 48, 49]]

# target element

result = 5

# iterating over the list present in an array

for i in arr:

# iterating through all elements of each list

for j in i:

# check if any element in the nested array is the result

if (j == result):

print("Element found")

# break terminates the innerloop and control goes to the outer loop

break

else:

print(j)

Output:

1

2

3

4

Element found

7

8

9

In the above example, the single break will only terminate the inner loop, and the outer loop will continue to run.

Features of Break Statement

The break statement provides the following features:

Loop Termination: It terminates the loop. Whenever a break statement is encountered within a loop, it terminates the iteration, and control goes to the next line of the program.
Error Handling: It can be used in error handling. It will terminate the execution whenever an error is encountered.
Used in Nested Loops: It can be used inside nested loops. When a break statement is encountered, the innermost loop will be terminated, and control goes to the outermost loop.
Used in if Statement: It is widely used in if statement. When the “if” condition becomes true, the break statement is executed, terminating the current execution of the program.

Advantages of Break Statement

It improves the coding efficiency.
It is used to reduce the time complexity of programs in certain instances.
It is widely used in Error handling.
It is also used inside nested loops and terminates the loop when certain conditions are met.

Disadvantages of Break Statement

Break can’t be used in conditional statements.
There is a lack of clarity and maintainability around its use.
It is not effective when the number of loops is more than two.
It is difficult to find an error if it comes after a break statement. It will decrease code efficiency.

Continue Statement

The continue statement terminates the current iteration, not the entire loop. When the compiler encounters a continue statement, the current iteration will be skipped, and the control moves to the next iteration.

Syntax: continue

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Working of Continue Statement

The continue statement skips the current iteration of the loop. It is specially used when you want to skip a certain iteration and perform operations on the remaining iterations. To understand it better, see the flow chart given below.

Python Implementation of Continue Statement

Let’s understand the implementation of the continue statement in the Python programming language.

Example 1: Continue statement with For loop

# continue statement with for loop

# iterating from 20 to 30

for itr in range(20, 31):

# when an element is equal to 25, continue is executed,

# The current iteration will terminate, and the next iteration will start

if itr == 25:

continue

# print the number otherwise

print(itr, end=" ")

Output:

20 21 22 23 24 26 27 28 29 30

In the above example, the continue statement is used to skip the iteration when the desired result is achieved; otherwise, print the elements.

Example 2: Continue statement with While loop

# continue statement with while loop

# defining a string

str = "Continue"

# initialize an iterator

itr = 0

# while loop starts

while itr < len(str):

# when found character 'n' used continue to skip the remaining execution

# and move to the next iteration

if(str[itr] == 'n'):

itr = itr + 1

continue

# otherwise print characters

print(str[itr])

itr = itr+1

Output:

C

o

t

i

u

e

In the above example, the continue statement is used to skip the iteration of the loop when the value of the character becomes “n” while the remaining characters are printed.

Example 3: Continue statement with Multiple loops

# continue statement with multiple loops

# define the 2-D array

arr = [[51, 20, 33], [14, 5, 16], [7, 48, 49]]

# iterating over the list present in the array

for i in arr:

# iterating through all elements of each list

for j in i:

# check if any element is even

if (j %2 == 0):

# continue skips the current iteration, and control goes to the outer loop

continue

else:

# printing the odd elements

print(j)

Output:

In the above example, the continue statement will skip all even elements and print all the odd elements in the array.

Features of Continue Statement

The continue statement provides the following features:

Loop Termination: It terminates the current iteration in the loop. Whenever a continue statement is encountered within a loop, it terminates the current iteration, and control goes to the next iteration.
Used in Nested Loops: It can be used inside nested loops. When a continue statement is encountered, the current iteration of the innermost loop will be terminated.
Error Handling: It can be used in error handling. It will skip the current iteration whenever an error is encountered.
Used in if Statement: It is commonly used in if statement. When the “if” condition becomes true, the continue statement is executed, stopping the current iteration of the loop.

Advantages of Continue Statement

When there is a need to skip any iteration of the loop, a continue statement is the best option.
Unlike the break statement, it doesn’t terminate the loop; rather, the desired iteration is skipped, and further iteration goes on.
It is used to reduce the time complexity of programs in certain instances.

Disadvantages of Continue Statement

Improper use of the continue statement leads to bugs in the code.
If the continue statement is used in an inaccurate position, it can cause an infinite loop condition.
It has limited usage and is commonly used with the for loop and if statement to obtain the desired results.

Comparison Table

Let’s understand the difference between break and continue statements using a comparison table.

Break Statement	Continue Statement
It terminates or ends all the iterations of the loop.	It only ends or skips the current iteration of the loop.
The control of the program will go to the next line after the loop.	The flow of control will go to the next iteration of the loop.
It can be used in both loops and switch statements.	It is only used in loops.
It improves performance by terminating unnecessary iterations.	It may not improve performance as it terminates the current iteration only.

Conclusion

This concludes our discussion on the difference between break and continue statements in Python. We learned about how break and continue statements work with their implementation, features, advantages, and disadvantages. In the end, we even used a comparison table to differentiate between them.

FAQs

Why should we use a break statement inside a loop?

In a loop, the break statement is used when we need to terminate the loop completely. If the loop has achieved the required output, then the break is executed, and the control comes out of the loop.

Why should we use a continue statement inside a loop?

In a loop, the continue statement is used when we need to skip the current iteration. If the loop has achieved the desired result, then continue is executed, the current iteration is skipped, and control goes to the next iteration.

What is the difference between the break and continue statements?

The break statement is used to terminate the whole iteration of the loop, whereas the continue statement is used to terminate the current iteration of the loop.

Can we use break and continue statements in all types of loops?

Yes, the break and continue statements can be used with all types of loops, like for, while, and do while. Unlike continue statements, the break is used with switch statements.

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