break and continue in Bash Scripting - Interactive Code Practice

Practice - 5 Tasks

1fill in blank

easy

Complete the code to stop the loop when the number is 5.

Bash Scripting

for i in {1..10}; do
  if [ "$i" -eq 5 ]; then
    [1]
  fi
  echo "$i"
done

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Acontinue

Bbreak

Cexit

Dstop

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using 'continue' instead of 'break' which skips the current iteration but does not stop the loop.

The 'break' command stops the loop immediately when the condition is met.

2fill in blank

medium

Complete the code to skip printing the number 3 but continue the loop.

Bash Scripting

for i in {1..5}; do
  if [ "$i" -eq 3 ]; then
    [1]
  fi
  echo "$i"
done

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Acontinue

Bbreak

Cexit

Dstop

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using 'break' which stops the loop instead of skipping one iteration.

The 'continue' command skips the current iteration and continues with the next one.

3fill in blank

hard

Fix the error in the code to correctly skip even numbers and print only odd numbers.

Bash Scripting

for num in {1..6}; do
  if [ $((num % 2)) -eq 0 ]; then
    [1]
  fi
  echo "$num"
done

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Acontinue

Bbreak

Cexit

Dstop

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using 'break' which stops the loop instead of skipping even numbers.

Using 'continue' skips even numbers and prints only odd numbers.

4fill in blank

hard

Fill both blanks to stop the loop when number is 4 and skip printing number 2.

Bash Scripting

for n in {1..5}; do
  if [ "$n" -eq 2 ]; then
    [1]
  fi
  if [ "$n" -eq 4 ]; then
    [2]
  fi
  echo "$n"
done

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Acontinue

Bbreak

Cexit

Dstop

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using 'break' to skip number 2 which stops the loop too early.

Using 'continue' to stop the loop which only skips iterations.

Use 'continue' to skip printing 2 and 'break' to stop the loop at 4.

5fill in blank

hard

Fill all three blanks to skip number 3, stop at number 6, and print the rest.

Bash Scripting

for val in {1..7}; do
  if [ "$val" -eq 3 ]; then
    [1]
  fi
  if [ "$val" -eq 6 ]; then
    [2]
  fi
  echo "$val"
done

# After loop ends
[3]

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

Acontinue

Bbreak

Cecho 'Loop finished'

Dexit

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using 'break' to skip number 3 which stops the loop early.

Using 'exit' after the loop which ends the script abruptly.

Use 'continue' to skip 3, 'break' to stop at 6, and print a message after the loop.

Practice

1. What does the break command do inside a bash loop?

easy

A. Pauses the loop until user input

B. Stops the loop immediately and exits it

C. Restarts the loop from the beginning

D. Skips the current iteration and continues with the next

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the role of break in loops

   The break command immediately stops the loop and exits it, no matter where it is in the loop.

2. Step 2: Compare with other commands

   continue skips to the next iteration, but break stops the loop entirely.

3. Final Answer:

   Stops the loop immediately and exits it -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   break stops loop = D [OK]

Hint: Break means stop loop now, continue means skip one round [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Confusing break with continue
• Thinking break skips iteration instead of stopping
• Assuming break restarts the loop

2. Which of the following is the correct syntax to skip the current iteration in a bash for loop?

easy

A. break

B. skip

C. continue

D. next

Solution

1. Step 1: Identify the command to skip iteration

   In bash, continue is used to skip the current iteration and move to the next one.

2. Step 2: Check other options

   break stops the loop, skip and next are not valid bash commands.

3. Final Answer:

   continue -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   Skip iteration = continue [OK]

Hint: Use continue to skip current loop round in bash [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using break instead of continue
• Using non-existent commands like skip or next
• Confusing syntax with other languages

3. What will be the output of this bash script?

for i in 1 2 3 4 5; do
  if [ "$i" -eq 3 ]; then
    break
  fi
  echo $i
done

medium

A. 1 2 3 4 5

B. 3 4 5

C. 1 2 3

D. 1 2

Solution

1. Step 1: Analyze the loop and break condition

   The loop runs from 1 to 5. When i equals 3, the break command stops the loop immediately.

2. Step 2: Determine which values are printed

   Before reaching 3, the script echoes 1 and 2. When i is 3, loop breaks, so 3 is not printed.

3. Final Answer:

   1 2 -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   Break stops at 3, prints before = 1 2 [OK]

Hint: Break stops loop before printing current value [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Including the break value in output
• Confusing break with continue
• Assuming loop runs fully

4. Identify the error in this bash script snippet:

for i in 1 2 3 4; do
  if [ $i -eq 2 ]
    continue
  fi
  echo $i
done

medium

A. Missing then keyword after if condition

B. Missing semicolon before continue

C. continue cannot be used inside if

D. echo command is misplaced

Solution

1. Step 1: Check if statement syntax

   The if statement requires a then keyword after the condition before commands.

2. Step 2: Identify missing keyword

   The script misses then after [ $i -eq 2 ], causing syntax error.

3. Final Answer:

   Missing then keyword after if condition -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   If needs then before commands [OK]

Hint: Always put then after if condition in bash [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Omitting then after if
• Assuming continue needs semicolon
• Thinking continue can't be inside if

5. You want to print numbers 1 to 5 but skip 3 and stop the loop if number is greater than 4. Which code snippet achieves this?

hard

A. for i in 1 2 3 4 5; do
if [ "$i" -eq 3 ]; then continue; fi
if [ "$i" -gt 4 ]; then break; fi
echo $i
done

B. for i in 1 2 3 4 5; do
if [ "$i" -gt 4 ]; then continue; fi
if [ "$i" -eq 3 ]; then break; fi
echo $i
done

C. for i in 1 2 3 4 5; do
if [ "$i" -eq 3 ]; then break; fi
if [ "$i" -gt 4 ]; then continue; fi
echo $i
done

D. for i in 1 2 3 4 5; do
if [ "$i" -eq 3 ]; then continue; fi
if [ "$i" -gt 4 ]; then continue; fi
echo $i
done

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand requirements

   Skip printing 3 (use continue), stop loop if number > 4 (use break).

2. Step 2: Analyze each option

   for i in 1 2 3 4 5; do if [ "$i" -eq 3 ]; then continue; fi if [ "$i" -gt 4 ]; then break; fi echo $i done correctly uses continue to skip 3 and break to stop after 4. Others misuse break and continue or reverse conditions.

3. Final Answer:

   Option A code snippet -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   continue skips 3, break stops after 4 [OK]

Hint: Use continue to skip, break to stop loop [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Swapping break and continue logic
• Wrong condition order causing wrong output
• Not stopping loop after number > 4