The "continue" statement in JAVA

right now I have a code of

Code:

---

while (!eof) {
for (int i=0; condtion; i++) {
if (conditionX==-1) break;
blah blah;
}

if (conditionX==-1) continue;
more blah blah}

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what I want to know is about the use of the "continue", does it just fallout for while loops? or can it fall out for "for loops" too.
I mean can I change

Code:

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if (conditionX==-1) break;

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to

Code:

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if (conditionX==-1) continue

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and still have it working like the original code (falling out the *complete* while and not just the for loop.)

In Java, continue will end execution of the nearest loop's current iteration and move to the next. So:

Code:

---

for ( int i = 0; i < 10; i++ ) {
  if ( i == 5 )
    continue;
  System.out.println ( "Iteration: " + i );
}

Output:

Iteration 0
Iteration 1
Iteration 2
Iteration 3
Iteration 4
Iteration 6
Iteration 7
Iteration 8
Iteration 9

---

In a nested loop, the inner-most loop is the one that break or continue has an effect on:

Code:

---

for ( int i = 0; i < 2; i++ ) {
  for ( int j = 0; j < 2; j++ ) {
    if ( i == 0 )
      continue;
    System.out.println ( "Iterations: " + i + " " + j );
  }
}

Output:

Iterations: 1 0
Iterations: 1 1

---

Break, on the other hand, terminates execution of the nearest loop or switch statement. Execution does not move to the next iteration, it goes to the next statement after the loop:

Code:

---

for ( int i = 0; i < 10; i++ ) {
  if ( i == 5 )
    break;
  System.out.println ( "Iteration: " + i );
}

Output:

Iteration 0
Iteration 1
Iteration 2
Iteration 3
Iteration 4

---

The same goes for nested loops as with continue. The inner-most loop is the one acted on:

Code:

---

for ( int i = 0; i < 2; i++ ) {
  for ( int j = 0; j < 2; j++ ) {
    if ( i == 0 )
      break;
    System.out.println ( "Iterations: " + i + " " + j );
  }
}

Output:

Iterations: 1 0
Iterations: 1 1

---

If you want to break from a nested loop, you can use a labeled break:

Code:

---

outer:
for ( int i = 0; i < 2; i++ ) {
  for ( int j = 0; j < 2; j++ ) {
    if ( i == 1 )
      break outer;
    System.out.println ( "Iterations: " + i + " " + j );
  }
}

Output:

Iterations: 0 0
Iterations: 0 1

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