In computer programming, the continue statement is used to skip the current iteration of the loop and the control of the program goes to the next iteration.

The syntax of the continue statement is:

continue;

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Working of C++ continue Statement

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Example 1: continue with for loop

In a for loop, continue skips the current iteration and the control flow jumps to the update expression.

// program to print the value of i

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main(){
    for (int i = 1; i <= 5; i++) {
        // condition to continue
        if (i == 3) {
            continue;
        }

        cout << i << endl;
    }

    return 0;
}

Output

1
2
4
5

In the above program, we have used the the for loop to print the value of i in each iteration. Here, notice the code,

if (i == 3) {
    continue;
}

This means

• When i is equal to 3, the continue statement skips the current iteration and starts the next iteration
• Then, i becomes 4, and the condition is evaluated again.
• Hence, 4 and 5 are printed in the next two iterations.

Note: The continue statement is almost always used with decision-making statements.

Note: The break statement terminates the loop entirely. However, the continue statement only skips the current iteration.

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Example 2: continue with while loop

In a while loop, continue skips the current iteration and control flow of the program jumps back to the while condition.

// program to calculate positive numbers till 50 only
// if the user enters a negative number,
// that number is skipped from the calculation

// negative number -> loop terminate
// numbers above 50 -> skip iteration

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main(){
    int sum = 0;
    int number = 0;

    while (number >= 0) {
        // add all positive numbers
        sum += number;

        // take input from the user
        cout << "Enter a number: ";
        cin >> number;

        // continue condition
        if (number > 50) {
            cout << "The number is greater than 50 and won't be calculated." << endl;
            number = 0;  // the value of number is made 0 again
            continue;
        }
    }

    // display the sum
    cout << "The sum is " << sum << endl;

    return 0;
}

Output

Enter a number: 12
Enter a number: 0
Enter a number: 2
Enter a number: 30
Enter a number: 50
Enter a number: 56
The number is greater than 50 and won't be calculated.
Enter a number: 5
Enter a number: -3
The sum is 99 

In the above program, the user enters a number. The while loop is used to print the total sum of positive numbers entered by the user, as long as the numbers entered are not greater than 50.

Notice the use of the continue statement.

if (number > 50){
    continue;
}

• When the user enters a number greater than 50, the continue statement skips the current iteration. Then the control flow of the program goes to the condition of while loop.
• When the user enters a number less than 0, the loop terminates.

Note: The continue statement works in the same way for the do...while loops.

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continue with Nested loop

When continue is used with nested loops, it skips the current iteration of the inner loop. For example,

// using continue statement inside
// nested for loop

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main(){
    int number;
    int sum = 0;

    // nested for loops

    // first loop
    for (int i = 1; i <= 3; i++) {
        // second loop
        for (int j = 1; j <= 3; j++) {
            if (j == 2) {
                continue;
            }
            cout << "i = " << i << ", j = " << j << endl;
        }
    }

    return 0;
}

Output

i = 1, j = 1
i = 1, j = 3
i = 2, j = 1
i = 2, j = 3
i = 3, j = 1
i = 3, j = 3

In the above program, when the continue statement executes, it skips the current iteration in the inner loop. And the control of the program moves to the update expression of the inner loop.

Hence, the value of j = 2 is never displayed in the output.