break and continue in Bash Scripting - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Using break and continue in Bash loops

📖 Scenario: You are writing a simple Bash script to process a list of numbers. You want to practice controlling the loop flow using break and continue commands.

🎯 Goal: Build a Bash script that loops through numbers 1 to 10, skips printing number 5, and stops the loop entirely when it reaches number 8.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a Bash array called numbers containing numbers 1 to 10

Create a variable called skip_num set to 5

Use a for loop to iterate over numbers

Use continue to skip printing the number equal to skip_num

Use break to stop the loop when the number is 8

Print each number that is not skipped or stopped

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Controlling loop flow with break and continue is useful in scripts that process data and need to skip or stop based on conditions, like filtering logs or processing files.

💼 Career

Many automation and system administration tasks require writing Bash scripts with loops that handle data efficiently using break and continue to manage flow.

1

Create the numbers array

Create a Bash array called numbers containing the numbers 1 to 10 exactly.

Bash Scripting

# Create the numbers array
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use parentheses () to create an array in Bash.

2

Set the skip number variable

Create a variable called skip_num and set it to 5.

Bash Scripting

numbers=(1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10)
# Set skip_num to 5
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Assign the number 5 to the variable skip_num without spaces around the equal sign.

3

Write the loop with break and continue

Write a for loop using num to iterate over ${numbers[@]}. Inside the loop, use continue to skip when num equals skip_num. Use break to stop the loop when num equals 8. Print num if not skipped or stopped.

Bash Scripting

numbers=(1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10)
skip_num=5

# Write the for loop with break and continue
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use if statements with [ ] to compare numbers. Use continue to skip and break to stop the loop.

4

Print the final output

Run the script and print the numbers as per the loop logic. The output should show numbers 1 to 7, skipping 5, and stopping before 8.

Bash Scripting

numbers=(1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10)
skip_num=5

for num in "${numbers[@]}"; do
    if [ "$num" -eq "$skip_num" ]; then
        continue
    fi
    if [ "$num" -eq 8 ]; then
        break
    fi
    echo "$num"
done

# Run the script to print the output
# Your code here

Need a hint?

The output should print numbers 1 to 7, skipping 5, and stop before 8.