break, continue and Nested Loops

break: leave the loop now

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        for (int i = 1; i <= 100; i++) {
            if (i * i > 50) {
                System.out.println("First square over 50: " + i + " x " + i + " = " + (i * i));
                break;
            }
        }
    }
}

Output

First square over 50: 8 x 8 = 64

continue: skip to the next round

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        for (int i = 1; i <= 10; i++) {
            if (i % 3 == 0) {
                continue;
            }
            System.out.print(i + " ");
        }
        System.out.println();
    }
}

Output

1 2 4 5 7 8 10 

Multiples of 3 are skipped: continue jumps straight to the next i.

Think of it like this: break is walking out of the cinema. continue is skipping one advert but staying for the film.

Loops inside loops

A loop can contain another loop. The inner loop runs completely for each round of the outer loop:

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        for (int row = 1; row <= 4; row++) {
            for (int star = 1; star <= row; star++) {
                System.out.print("*");
            }
            System.out.println();
        }
    }
}

Output

*
**
***
****

Row 1 prints 1 star, row 2 prints 2 stars, and so on. The println() after the inner loop starts a new row.

Remember: break only leaves the innermost loop it is in.