Continue statement in C++ - Step-by-Step Execution

Concept Flow - Continue statement

Start loop iteration

↓

Check condition

Yes↓

Check if continue condition

Yes|No↓

Skip rest of loop

↓

Next iteration or exit

The loop checks a condition each iteration. If the continue condition is true, it skips the rest of the loop body and moves to the next iteration.

Execution Sample

C++

for (int i = 1; i <= 5; i++) {
    if (i == 3) continue;
    std::cout << i << " ";
}

Print numbers 1 to 5 but skip printing 3 using continue.

Execution Table

Iteration	i	Condition i <= 5	Check if i == 3	Action	Output
1	1	True	False	Print 1	1
2	2	True	False	Print 2	2
3	3	True	True	Continue (skip print)
4	4	True	False	Print 4	4
5	5	True	False	Print 5	5
6	6	False	-	Exit loop

💡 i reaches 6, condition i <= 5 is False, loop ends

Variable Tracker

Variable	Start	After 1	After 2	After 3	After 4	After 5	Final
i	1	2	3	4	5	6	6

Key Moments - 2 Insights

Why does the number 3 not get printed even though the loop runs when i is 3?

At iteration 3 in the execution_table, the condition i == 3 is True, so the continue statement skips the print action and moves to the next iteration.

Does the continue statement stop the entire loop?

No, continue only skips the rest of the current iteration. The loop continues with the next iteration as shown in rows 3 and 4 of the execution_table.

Visual Quiz - 3 Questions

Look at the execution_table, what is the output after iteration 2?

A "1 2 3 "

B "2 "

C "1 2 "

D ""

💡 Hint

Check the Output column after iteration 2 in the execution_table.

At which iteration does the continue statement cause the loop to skip printing?

A Iteration 3

B Iteration 1

C Iteration 5

D Iteration 6

💡 Hint

Look at the 'Check if i == 3' and 'Action' columns in the execution_table.

If the continue statement was removed, what would be the output after iteration 5?

A "3 "

B "1 2 3 4 5 "

C "1 2 4 5 "

D ""

💡 Hint

Without continue, the print happens every iteration where i <= 5.

Concept Snapshot

continue statement in C++:
- Used inside loops to skip the rest of current iteration
- Control jumps to next iteration immediately
- Syntax: if(condition) continue;
- Useful to skip specific cases without breaking the loop
- Loop continues until its main condition fails

Full Transcript

This example shows a for loop from 1 to 5. Each time, it checks if i equals 3. If yes, continue skips printing 3 and moves to next iteration. Otherwise, it prints the number. The loop ends when i becomes 6 because the condition i <= 5 is false. The continue statement only skips the current iteration's remaining code, not the whole loop.